2 A Introducion Fisica de Particulas

See the Sun
in a new light
Solar-B Education and Public Outreach (EPO)

Solar-B is a multinational solar observatory satellite
project headed by the Japanese Space Agency (ISAS),
in partnership with the United States (NASA) and the
United Kingdom (PPARC).
The Solar-B EPO program at Chabot Space & Science
Center is funded by a grant from the Lockheed-Martin
Solar and Astrophysics Lab (LMSAL) in Palo Alto,
California.
The activities and materials in this package were
developed for the Touch the Sun teacher-training
workshop at Chabot Space & Science Center, 10000
Skyline Blvd., Oakland, California 94619. © 2001,
Chabot Space & Science Center.
SOLAR-B TOUCH THE SUN
Contents
TOUCH THE SUN ....................................................................................... 5
SOLAR B ....................................................................................................... 5
WELCOME ..................................................................................................... 6
BUILD IT RIGHT .......................................................................................... 11
CLASSROOM CONSIDERATIONS: SOME TOE-HOLDS AND SPRINGBOARDS .. 13
WEB RESOURCES ........................................................................................ 14
THE SUN’S PHYSICAL CHARACTERISTICS.................................................... 15
SUNSPOT TRACKER ............................................................................... 17
NUTS AND BOLTS ........................................................................................ 17
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 18
SETUP .......................................................................................................... 19
OBSERVE ..................................................................................................... 20
ANALYZE THE DATA ................................................................................... 25
LESSONS LEARNED/QUESTIONS/NEW IDEAS ............................................... 29
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS ..................................................................... 30
PINHOLE PROJECTOR: A LOW-COST ALTERNATIVE TO TELESCOPES ......... 33
SUNDIAL..................................................................................................... 36
NUTS AND BOLTS ........................................................................................ 36
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 37
BUILD IT ..................................................................................................... 40
OBSERVE ..................................................................................................... 43
ANALYZE THE DATA ................................................................................... 46
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES ............................................................................. 50
PINHOLE CAMERA ................................................................................. 64
NUTS AND BOLTS ........................................................................................ 64
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 65
Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 2

BUILD IT ..................................................................................................... 67
OBSERVE ..................................................................................................... 68
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES ............................................................................. 73
APPENDIX A................................................................................................ 77
SPECTROSCOPE ...................................................................................... 79
NUTS AND BOLTS ........................................................................................ 79
INTRODUCTION............................................................................................ 81
ACTIVITY 1: EXPLORE HOW THE DIFFRACTION GRATING WORKS ............. 83
ACTIVITY 2: BUILDING A SPECTROSCOPE .................................................. 91
ACTIVITY 3: OBSERVE ............................................................................... 95
ACTIVITY 4: CLASSIFY THE SPECTRA ......................................................... 98
LESSONS LEARNED/QUESTIONS/NEW IDEAS:.............................................. 99
ADDITIONAL ACTIVITIES ........................................................................... 100
INFORMATION FOR TEACHERS ................................................................... 103
COLORGRAPHS ..................................................................................... 109
NUTS AND BOLTS ...................................................................................... 109
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 110
ACTIVITY 1: DETERMINE THE BANDPASS CURVE OF A FILTER ................. 112
ACTIVITY 2: DESIGN YOUR OWN COLOR FILTER ..................................... 114
LESSONS LEARNED/QUESTIONS/NEW IDEAS ............................................. 116
POLARIMETER ...................................................................................... 121
NUTS AND BOLTS ...................................................................................... 121
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 123
ACTIVITY 1: POLARIZER PLAY ................................................................. 125
ACTIVITY 2: BUILD A POLARIMETER........................................................ 127
ACTIVITY 3: OBSERVE ............................................................................. 130

ACTIVITY 4: ANALYZE THE DATA............................................................ 133

LESSONS LEARNED/QUESTIONS/NEW IDEAS ............................................. 134
SHOEBOX SATELLITE ......................................................................... 138
NUTS AND BOLTS ...................................................................................... 138
INTRODUCTION.......................................................................................... 140
DESIGN AND BUILD ................................................................................... 142
TEST .......................................................................................................... 145
LESSONS LEARNED/QUESTIONS /NEW IDEAS ............................................ 148
DESIGN AND MATERIALS TIPS .................................................................. 148
EDUCATION STANDARDS ALIGNMENT MATRIX ...................... 151

Touch the Sun

Solar B
Solar-B is a mission of Japan’s Institute of Space and Astronautical
Science, in partnership with the United States’ National Aeronautics and
Space Administration and the United Kingdom’s Particle Physics and
Astronomy Research Council.
Human beings have observed the
Sun for millennia, but in recent
years technology has painted a
much more complete picture,
shedding light on the detailed workings of our
star and causing us to ask an entirely new
generation of questions. We have long known
that the Sun’s energy is essential to life on Earth.
More recently we have discovered that changes
in our Sun’s behavior, driven by powerful
magnetic activity, can affect the Earth’s
protective magnetic shield, climate, and our technological civilization.
Presently there exists a small fleet of satellite observatories focused on the Sun. In the
last few years this intense, around-the-clock scrutiny by high-technology spacecraft
operating in space, outside Earth’s atmosphere, has greatly increased our understanding
of the Sun, as well as its intimate connections to our planet, in particular to life on Earth.
As more knowledge of the Sun comes to light, new and sometimes unanticipated
questions arise, begging more investigation. As technology advances, some of it spurred
by earlier technological successes, so does our ability to investigate the Sun.
Solar-B is a next-generation solar observatory satellite, to be launched in the year 2005
from Kagoshima, Japan. With an array of instruments on board that will allow it to make
coordinated observations in visible, ultraviolet, and X-ray light, yielding imagery,
spectra, and polarization data, Solar-B will reveal facts about the Sun that are presently
secrets, such as the cause of
variability of solar energy
output, the mechanisms that
generate the Sun’s powerful
magnetic fields, and the cause
of the intense heating of gases
in the Sun’s outer atmosphere,
the corona.
Powerful impulsive
phenomena, such as coronal
mass ejections and solar
flares, will also be studied.

Welcome
Welcome to Solar B Touch the Sun! This guide will lead you through an
exploration of our Sun and the nature of its light. Choose a project, design
and build a scientific instrument, collect and interpret data; you will be
engaged in the scientific process, a powerful method for unlocking the
secrets of nature.
Students may team up in groups of two to three. Each group will work
together to create the best possible instrument and to collect the most
accurate data. Each student may build and use their own instrument and
collect and analyze their own data, but teamwork is highly encouraged.
A description of the Touch the Sun activities follows.
Sunspot Tracker
What Students Will Do
With a simple lens system (binoculars or a small telescope), find and
track sunspots and measure their movement across the face of the Sun.
Sketch or trace the positions, sizes, and shapes of sunspots on the Sun’s
disk at different times over a week or two.
Decide if the sunspots are moving and, if so, how fast.
What Students Will Learn
Looking through a telescope at the Sun is dangerous and can cause
permanent eye damage.
The Sun can be observed SAFELY using a telescope as a projector.
Sunspots can be thought of as magnetic “storms” on the Sun’s visible
surface.
The Sun rotates in space just as the Earth does.
Sunspots move with the Sun’s surface as the Sun rotates in space.
Sunspots can be viewed, recorded, and tracked, and from observations
the speed of rotation of the Sun, at different solar latitudes, can be
calculated.
Sundial
Track the movements of the Sun through our sky.

Build a simple sundial.

Measure and record the length and direction of your sundial’s shadow at
different times of the day.
Calculate the Sun’s position in the sky (azimuth and altitude) from your
measurements of the sundial’s shadow.
Graph your measurements of the Sun’s position at different times of the
day and estimate when true local noon occurred (rarely is it exactly 12:00
o’clock).
The Sun appears to move through our sky.
The path that the Sun follows across the sky can be measured and
predicted.
The Sun’s altitude when it reaches its highest point in the sky during the
day depends on the time of year.
The exact time of local noon (when the Sun reaches its highest point in
the sky) can be estimated using the sundial.
With careful measurement and some knowledge of geography, the time
of the year can be estimated using a sundial.
Pinhole Camera
Measure the angular size of the Sun and other objects.
Build a simple camera from a cardboard tube, aluminum foil, graph
paper, and a pin.
Make observations of the Sun and record real-time data.
Use the data to measure the diameter of the star in the center of our solar
system.
An image of an object can be used to determine the object’s size or the
distance to the object (as long as one of these is already known).
Light rays tend to travel in straight lines.
Light rays from an object that pass through a small hole project an image
of the object on the other side.

An aperture is an opening through which light enters an optical device.

The ability of the lens of the human eye to focus an image is aided by the
eye’s pupil (the eye’s aperture), which acts as a pinhole camera.
Spectroscope
Construct a simple grating spectroscope with a shoebox, paper, tape,
cardboard, and a piece of plastic with a thousand tiny grooves etched on
its surface (a “diffraction grating”).
Learn of the electromagnetic spectrum, and of the spectra of various
sources of light.
Identify unknown elements with the spectroscope.
Light has wave-like properties
The distance between successive wave “crests” in a light wave is the
wavelength of the light
The wavelength of light waves is very small, and is usually measured in
nanometers
1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter
Light waves normally travel through space in straight lines
The direction that a light wave travels can be changed by the phenomena
of reflection, diffraction, and refraction
The amount that a light wave’s direction of travel is changed by
diffraction or refraction depends on the wavelength of the light
A spectrum is a range of values or properties: the electromagnetic
spectrum is the range of all possible wavelengths of light; the visible
spectrum is the range of all wavelengths of light that the human eye can
see; the set of wavelengths of light present in a given source of light is
called that source’s light spectrum
With special instruments, such as a spectroscope, we can separate the
different wavelengths of light and determine the light spectrum of any
light source
The wavelengths of light present in a light source can tell us what
chemical elements emitted the light

Colorgraphs
Explore the nature of color filters.
Learn about filter spectral curves by observing the brightness of different
colors of light through a filter and plotting the results.
Use your understanding of the filter spectral curve to design your own
filter by selectively combining two or more other filters.
Most sources of light that we see are made up of many different
wavelengths (colors) of light
In most cases, what the human eye and brain perceive as a specific color
(for example, “red”) is actually a range of different light wavelengths.
The human eye blends the different colors present in light; what we
perceive is the blended result, not the individual colors present.
Color filters are pieces of material (plastic, glass) that are transparent to
some wavelengths of light and not so transparent (either translucent or
opaque) to other wavelengths.
The individual colors of light can be studied using color filters to block
off certain colors.
Color filters can be used to see certain colors without interference from
colors we do not want to see.
Polarimeter
Learn to pronounce words like “polarimeter,” “polarimetric,” and
“polarimetry.” Also, learn what the words mean!
When we think of light, usually the first characteristics that come to mind
are color and brightness: what is the color of the light, and how bright is
it? A not-well-known cousin of these properties is polarization.
Use a polarizing filter to construct a polarimeter.
Sleuth for sources of polarized light in the world around you.
Make measurements of the direction and strength of polarization of light.
Learn the ways that light becomes polarized, and what that can tell us
about the object emitting the light.


Light is an electromagnetic wave: a wave of electric and magnetic fields.
A light wave travels with its electric field oscillating within a geometric
plane.
Groups of light waves that travel in the same direction and whose electric
fields oscillate in planes parallel to each other are called plane-polarized.
Groups of light waves become polarized by different circumstances,
including reflection from a smooth, shiny surface, being emitted by
atoms that are inside a magnetic field, and by stimulated emission such as
the light produced by lasers.
Using instruments called polarimeters we can learn things about the
object or environment that cause light to be polarized.
Shoebox Satellite
Build from a shoebox, aluminum foil, paper, rubber bands, glue, tape,
and other common materials a structure that will:
Protect a cube of ice from melting under a hot lamp or direct sunlight.
Protect an egg from fracture when dropped from a great height.
Cost as little as possible to launch into space.
The environment of space is extremely hostile, to people and to
machines.
Engineering and building astronomical instruments (telescopes, for
example) that are to be launched by rocket and operate in space requires
special designs and special materials.
The building and testing of models of space-bound telescopes can help us
figure out the best way to design and build the real thing, before we send
them into space or even before we build them.

Build It Right
Solar-B
Satellite observatories like Solar B are truly wonders of science and
technology. On one hand, they are complex machines, filled with delicate
mirrors, sensitive electronics, computers, radio transceivers, and an
extensive system of optics that must remain very accurately aligned.
On the other hand, the entire package must be stuffed inside a rocket’s
payload cone, hurled into orbit, ejected into the vacuum of space, subjected
to extremes of hot and cold that reek havoc on machines, pelted with
micrometeorites, hammered with solar radiation and cosmic rays, and finally
expected to function continuously, without maintenance or the possibility of
repair, for several years.
Spacecraft designers and builders must anticipate all of these conditions, and
make all necessary tests of instrument parts and systems, before launch.
There is no second chance.
Your Instrument
It is very important to think about the design of your instrument before you
try to build it. Refer to the
suggestions below as you are
designing your instrument.
They are suggestions of things
to keep in mind as you
proceed.
Minimize
Unnecessary Light
Design your instrument so
that only the light from the
object you are observing
reaches your instrument’s aperture (the “eye” of your instrument). For
some instruments this is not a big concern; the Sundial, for example.
For other instruments, if too much unwanted light gets into your eye it can
be difficult or impossible to see the object’s light. The Spectroscope and the
Pinhole Camera are examples where you want to keep out all light except
that of the object of interest.

Using a “light-tight” cardboard box is a great way to start since the box can
also be used to mount color filters and polarizing filters and diffraction
gratings and such.
Ease of Use/Pointing
Your instrument should be easy to use, easy to handle, and easy to point at a
desired subject. This design consideration can make a big difference to data
collection.
Ease of Making Measurements

Simply building an instrument and using it are only half of the fun. Making
meaningful measurements and collecting data are essential.
Think about the type of data you will be collecting: exactly what will you be
writing down or drawing or otherwise recording? Numbers? Sketches?
Images? Graph entries? Once you understand exactly what type of data you
will be collecting, you will understand better how to design your instrument.
Design for Abuse!

An instrument that falls apart in your hands as you attempt to use it is a
waste of time ever to have built! Don’t make a flimsy instrument. Duct tape
is much stronger than Scotch tape.

Classroom Considerations: Some Toe-holds

and Springboards
General Reflections
The following questions can be used for whole group or small group
discussions, and/or written assignments. It is especially important for
students to have the time to talk and/or write after a “hands-on” activity. We
don’t learn from our experiences so much as we learn from thinking about
our experiences. These questions are structured to assist students with self-
assessment.
Reflecting on Your Learning

As you think back on this activity, from design, to building, to testing:
How did it go?
Did you modify your original plan? If so, when and why?
What went well? Why do you think so?
What are some challenges or problems you faced? How did you solve
them?
How close are your data to the “ideal?” What might account for
differences in the data collected? What are some things you/your group
could do to modify your instrument in order to collect more accurate
data?
What are some things you learned (about engineering, testing,
collaborating)?
If you were to repeat the experiment(s), what would you do differently,
and why?
What questions do you now have?
What have you learned about how scientists work together?
Assessment Idea for the Shoebox Satellite:
Following the testing of the Shoebox Satellite, “have each student prepare a
report on one thing they propose in order to improve their team’s container
and how they would test the effectiveness of their improvement” (National
Standards, p.164).

Web Resources
Solar-B
Chabot Space & Science Center, “Solar-B Focal Plane,” the
Education/Public Outreach site for the Lockheed-Martin Solar-B Focal
Plane Package project:
http://www.chabotspace.org/vsc/exhibits/solarb/default.asp
Lockheed-Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab:
http://www.lmsal.com/
NASA Solar-B Information site:
http://science.nasa.gov/ssl/pad/solar/solar-b.stm
Solar
Daily Solar Images
Solar Data Analysis Center, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center:
http://umbra.nascom.nasa.gov/sdac.html
Latest SOHO Solar Images:
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/ >> The Sun Now link
Big Bear Solar Observatory:
http://www.bbso.njit.edu/cgi-bin/LatestImages
Mount Wilson Observatory:
http://www.astro.ucla.edu/~obs/intro.html
Mees Solar Observatory, University of Hawaii:
http://www.solar.ifa.hawaii.edu/Daily/mees_obs.html
Kitt Peak, National Solar Observatory:
http://www.nso.noao.edu/synoptic/synoptic.html
Sacramento Peak, National Solar Observatory:
http://www.sunspot.noao.edu/sunspot/latest_solar_images.html
Solar Learning Sites

Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO):
http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/

Stanford Solar Center:

http://solar-center.stanford.edu/
Sun-Earth
Sun-Earth Connection Education Forum, NASA Goddard Space Flight
Center:
http://sunearth.gsfc.nasa.gov/
SpaceWeather.com:
http://www.spaceweather.com/
NOAA Space Environment Center:
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/
Earth
United States Geologic Survey:
http://www.usgs.gov/
The Sun’s Physical Characteristics

Mean Distance to the Sun—kilometers: 149,597,870
Mean Distance to the Sun—miles: 92,960,116
Diameter of the Sun—equatorial, kilometers: 1,392,530
Diameter of the Sun—equatorial, miles: 865,318
Perihelion Distance to Sun—kilometers: 146,605,913
Aphelion Distance to Sun—kilometers: 152,589,827

There’s a little dark spot
on the Sun today

California.
SOLAR-B SUNSPOT TRACKER
Sunspot Tracker
Nuts and Bolts
Form a real image of the Sun large enough to reveal sunspots.
Record the number and positions of sunspots several times throughout
the week.
Attempt to calculate the speed of the Sun’s rotation by tracking sunspots
over time.
Key Concepts
Looking at the Sun with a telescope, or even with the naked eye, is
dangerous. Permanent eye damage can result. Don’t do it.
A telescope or binoculars can project an image onto paper in the same
way that a camera lens projects images onto sheets of photographic film,
or CCD chips.
Sunspots are temporary features on the Sun’s surface that may last days,
weeks, or even months.
Sunspots can be several times larger than the Earth.
The Sun rotates on its axis, but does so faster near its equator than near
its poles; the Sun’s equator completes one rotation in a shorter time than
regions at higher latitudes.
Sunspots can be used as visible reference points to track the motions of
the Sun’s surface.
Materials Needed
A small telescope (preferred) or pair of binoculars (also see alternate,
low-cost imaging method at the end of this unit)
A tripod or similar mounting stand for the telescope or binoculars
Multiple copies of a sunspot drawing template/data recording log (a
sample is provided in this package)
A pen or pencil (pencil preferred)
A sunny day (actually, two or three)

Sunspot Tracker
Introduction
Description
Sunspots can be thought of as “magnetic storms” on the Sun’s surface. They
can be as large as the Earth, or even several times larger. They appear dark
because the magnetic fields emerging from within the Sun at those places
prevent the normal upward flow (convection) of hot gases rising from within
the Sun.
Sunspots move along with the rest of the Sun’s surface as the Sun rotates in
space. Since we can see them, sunspots can be used as reference markers
that reveal the motion of the Sun’s surface.
The activity in this package is best conducted as a whole-class exercise,
mainly because it may require the use of a telescope, and unless a student
can provide their own, the teacher will conduct the activity with one
telescope for the whole class.
You will need to record sunspot activity (positions and sizes) at least twice
(preferably three or four times) over the course of at least two days.
Solar-B Connection
Sunspots are visible features on the Sun caused
by the emergence of powerful magnetic fields
from within the Sun. One of Solar-B’s prime
subjects of study will be solar magnetic fields:
how they are born, grow, and dissipate, as well
as the driving source of energy behind them.
Observing the motion of sunspots has been used
for a very long time to clock the speed of the Sun’s rotation. Similar
clocking of material motion will be performed by Solar-B scientists to
measure the flow speeds and directions of materials on the Sun’s surface.

Sunspot Tracker
Setup
Overview
There are a number of methods for creating an image of the Sun, some
expensive and others not. Binoculars or a small telescope, mounted on a
tripod, are ideal. A pinhole projector can work, provided the distance from
the pinhole aperture to the projection surface is large enough to produce a
decent-sized image of the Sun’s disk. See the Information for Teachers
section for suggestions on a low-cost alternative to telescopes. The setup
and observing instructions below assume the use of binoculars or a
telescope.
Normally, you look at objects through a telescope by placing your eye to the
eyepiece and viewing images directly. However, you cannot do this when
observing the Sun without harming your eye, possibly permanently.
Never observe the Sun directly, either with an instrument or with your
bare eyes.
Before you observe the Sun, repeat the following sentence one thousand
times:
I will not look directly at the Sun!
It is very important that you do not look directly at the Sun, not with a
telescope, not with a camera, not with a pair of binoculars, not with your
bare eyes!
Step by Step
To observe the Sun safely
using a telescope or
binoculars, point the
instrument at the Sun as
nearly as you can “blindly”
(without looking into the
instrument) and look for
the Sun’s bright light
coming out of the eyepiece.
You can hold your hand in
front of the eyepiece, or
place a piece of paper

Sunspot Tracker
there, in order to see the light. Once the Sun’s light emerges from the
instrument, place a flat piece of white paper in the light, holding it
perpendicular to the direction that the telescope is pointing, as shown in the
picture below.
The disk of light projected onto the paper is an image of the Sun, magnified
by the telescope or binoculars. It may or may not be in focus, however. To
focus the image, adjust the instrument’s focus until you see a clear image of
the Sun, with sharp, non-fuzzy edges. If there are any sunspots to see, then
they too should come into focus. Note: If you are observing during a Solar
Minimum of the 11-year solar cycle, sunspots may be scarce or not present
at all; happy hunting!
Some suggestions:
Construct a large cardboard shade to go at the front of the telescope to
help shade the area where the Sun’s image is being formed (the
projection surface). A piece of cardboard with a hole cut out of it to fit
around the telescope tube works very well.
Construct a holder for the projection surface, one that will hold the
surface and the drawing paper steady and allow you to sketch sunspots
without moving the paper. Even something solid, sitting on the ground,
against which a clipboard holding the drawing paper can be propped
could be made to work.
Observe
Repeat your pledge:
I do not wish to lose my eyesight!
Remember: If your eyeball is a grape, then a raisin is
your eyeball after looking at the Sun….
Before You Observe

You will record a sketch of the positions and sizes of all the sunspots you
observe, any interesting features of the sunspots, and the total number that
you can count for that observation.

Sunspot Tracker
There are two ways that you can record this data. One is by looking at the
projected image and sketching on a different piece of paper what you see.
A better way is to place a piece of paper at the projection surface and trace
the positions of sunspots you see directly onto the paper. To make the
observing easier, you can prepare a batch of pre-drawn circle templates on
small pieces of paper. Pre-drawing a circle of the same diameter as the
Sun’s image gives you a reference target for positioning the paper, and using
small pieces of paper will make handling them easier.
There are some things to be aware of before you sketch or trace anything,
however:
The Sun Moves: The Sun is constantly moving in the sky due to the
Earth’s rotation. Though we normally think of this motion as very slow,
taking place over the course of an entire day, the image you are viewing
through the telescope is magnified, so the Sun’s motion will be noticeable
even over a minute of time. If you have decided to trace the positions of
sunspots directly, then to get an accurate map of sunspots for a given time
you must sketch quickly, before the Sun’s image has moved much. Or, if
you see that the Sun and its spots have moved before you finish tracing, you
can adjust the position of the paper you are tracing so that the sunspots that
you have already sketched line up with the sunspots in the Sun’s image.
Keep the sunspots you sketch aligned with the actual sunspots in the
projected image.
The Sky Turns: When recording sunspots over different days of the week
(in order to track their motion over time) it is important that the orientation
of the Sun be the same on each sketch. That is, the Sun’s equator and north
and south poles need to be oriented in the same direction on all of the
sketches. Depending on the time of day, and thus the direction in which the

Sunspot Tracker
Sun can be found, the orientation of the Sun’s own coordinate lines will
change. From our point of view on the rotating Earth, the Sun’s coordinate
lines (North, South, East, West) will turn like the hands on an analog clock.
The equator and poles of the Sun (like those of Earth) are imaginary
reference lines and points. On the Earth, if you know the shapes of the
continents and oceans you can figure out which direction is North, which is
South, and about where the equator is simply by looking at an image of the
planet. The Sun not only has no continents or oceans, the features that it
does show (like sunspots) change their positions and shapes constantly, like
clouds on Earth—and like clouds, last only a short time before dissipating.
The simplest way to ensure that the Sun’s
image is oriented the same way in all of
your sketches is to make your observations
at the same time of day (approximately)
each day, and place your tracing paper in
the same orientation (with respect to the
telescope) as well.
Another way to orient your sketches is by
taking advantage of the Sun’s apparent
westward motion in the sky caused by the Earth’s eastward rotation. You
will see this slow, steady motion in the image of the Sun that you project.
You can mark the direction of motion on the paper by marking the position
of a sunspot, waiting half a minute or so, and marking the position of that
same sunspot again, and drawing an arrow from the first marking to the
second, as illustrated in the picture to the right.
Step by Step
1. Set up your instrument until you achieve a focused image of the Sun.
2. Place a pre-drawn circle template sheet in front of the eyepiece at a
distance such that the Sun’s disk fits nicely in the circle.
3. Quickly sketch the positions of all sunspots you see. As the image
moves, you may need to reposition the paper to keep up with it. It is
important that whenever you record a sunspot, the Sun’s image is
lined up with the template and any spots you have already drawn.
4. Label, with a name or a number, each sunspot or sunspot group. If
this is not your first observation, use the same labels for particular
sunspots that you labeled in earlier observations.

Sunspot Tracker
5. Record, by the label you gave each sunspot or sunspot group, any
features or characteristics that you find interesting or out of the
ordinary.
6. Count the total number of sunspots in your completed sketch and
record the number. In this case, you should count the sunspots in any
groups as individual sunspots.
7. Repeat this observation procedure over the course of a week or so,
every day if possible. Sunspots or sunspot groups that you have
labeled should keep the same label for all observations.

Sunspot Tracker
Data Sheet
Date: Time: Observer:
Sketch your sunspot observation on a
small piece of paper with a circular
template and attach it in the box to
the right. Make sure that you
indicate the direction of image
motion for later reference.
(attach your sunspot
sketch/template here)
Sunspot Count: ________________
Sunspot Label Description (large, dark, small, light, etc.)

Sunspot Tracker
Analyze the Data

Step by Step
Here are detailed directions for analyzing your data. See also the worksheet
on page 28.
From your recorded sketches of sunspots on at least two different days, you
will attempt to measure the physical speed of a sunspot (in miles per hour or
kilometers per hour) and use that speed to calculate the rotation period of the
Sun (how long it takes for the Sun to rotate once on its axis).
1. Select two of your sketches that you believe are accurate, that were
recorded at least a day apart and no more than about four days apart.
2. Select a single sunspot that is visible in both sketches (make sure it’s
the same sunspot!) that you will measure. NOTE: You are
attempting to measure the physical speed of the sunspot by measuring
how far it moves from side to side. The Sun is spherical in shape, so
as it rotates sunspots that you see near the edge of the Sun’s disk are
actually moving toward you or away from you and may not appear to
be moving as fast as sunspots closer to the middle of the Sun’s image.
To make as accurate a measurement as possible, select a sunspot
located as close to the middle of the Sun’s image as possible.
3. “Register” the two sketches: Place them together, one on top of the
other, with the images of the Sun’s disk lined up and rotated in the
same orientation (with the drift directions you recorded aligned). This
will form a two-page “flip book” that you can page back and forth to
see any changes in the positions of the sunspots you sketched. You
can combine the two images by carefully marking the sunspot
positions of one sketch on the other sketch (perhaps using a different
Oct 26, 0:00 UT Oct 28, 0:00 UT Combined Images

(sample images courtesy of SOHO/MDI)

Sunspot Tracker
color marker so that you do not confuse one day’s sunspot positions
with the other day’s).
4. On the sketch where you combined both days’ sunspot positions, use a
ruler to draw a line through the two positions of the sunspot you have
chosen. Extend this line so that it crosses the whole disk of the Sun’s
image. From Earth, we look at the
Sun from the side (from above its
equator), so this line represents the
sunspot’s latitude on the Sun, and the
length of this line represents the
diameter of that circle of latitude.
5. Now draw another line through the
Sun’s disk that is parallel to the
sunspot’s latitude and passes through
the center of the Sun’s disk. This line
represents the Sun’s equator. (Of
course, if the line you drew through
the two sunspot positions already
passes through the center of the disk, then the sunspot was on the
equator and you can skip this step.)
6. With a ruler, preferably in millimeters, measure: 1) the distance
between the two sunspot positions; 2) the length of the sunspot’s
latitude line on the sketch; and 3) the length of the equatorial line.
Note that the length of the sunspot’s latitude line represents the
diameter of that circle of latitude, and the length of the equatorial line
represents the equatorial diameter of the Sun.
7. The fraction formed by the ratio of the two measurements is the same
as for those dimensions on the real Sun. So the actual diameter of the
circle of latitude (dcl) of the sunspot is
dcl = ( mdcl / mde ) * D
where mdcl is the measured diameter of the circle of latitude of the
sunspot, mde is the measured diameter of the equator, and D is the
actual equatorial diameter of the Sun.
8. The fraction formed by the ratio of the distance moved by the sunspot
and the diameter of its circle of latitude is also the same for the sketch
and the real Sun. So, the distance that the sunspot moved (d) is
d = ( md / mdcl ) * dcl

Sunspot Tracker
where md is the measured distance the sunspot moved.

9. The physical speed the sunspot was moving (s) is the distance it
moved (d) divided by the time it took to move (t), or
s=d/t
10. To use this result for speed to figure out the period of rotation of the
Sun, you must first calculate how far the sunspot will move during
one rotation of the Sun, which is the circumference of its circle of
latitude. From the formula for the circumference of a circle, the
circumference of the sunspot’s circle of latitude is
c = PI * dcl
where PI = 3.1415926 and dcl is the diameter of the circle of latitude.
11. Once you have the speed of the sunspot (s) and the distance it must
travel (c), you can calculate the time it takes (T):
T=c/s
This is your calculated period of rotation of the Sun.

Sunspot Tracker
Work Sheet
Diameter of Sun’s disk measured on the sketch (mde):
____________________________
Diameter of sunspot’s circle of latitude measured on the sketch (mdcl):
____________________________
Distance the sunspot moved measured on the sketch (md):
____________________________
Actual diameter of the sunspot’s circle of latitude (dcl = (mdcl / mde) * D,
where D = 865,318 miles):
____________________________
Actual distance the sunspot moved (d = ( md / mdcl ) * dcl):
____________________________
Actual speed of the sunspot (s = d / t, where t is the time between
measurements):
____________________________
Circumference of the sunspot’s circle of latitude (c = PI * dcl, where PI =
3.1415926):
____________________________
Period of rotation of the Sun at the sunspot’s latitude (T = c / s):
____________________________

Sunspot Tracker
Lessons Learned/Questions/New Ideas

Now that you have experienced the process of setting up, using, and
analyzing data from a simple solar imaging system, write down all of the
things that you would do differently (if anything) if you were to build
another.
1. What would you do to improve the setup of the telescope?
2. What would you do to improve the way in which you use the
telescope and data sheet to collect data from the Sun?
3. How do you think any of these changes would improve the ease of use
and accuracy of the data collected?
4. If you accomplished this activity with any different methods, what
were they? Do you think your methods were better? Worse? Why?
5. What questions do you have?
6. What are some things that you now understand about the sun that you
did not know before?

Sunspot Tracker
Information for Teachers

Our Sun is an enormous ball of plasma (hot, ionized gases, mostly hydrogen
and helium) powered by the fusion of hydrogen into helium at its core. The
gases of the Sun are so hot that most of the atoms present there are ionized—
stripped of one or more of their electrons. Thus, the Sun is churning mass of
positively charged atomic nuclei and negatively charged electrons.
Motions of electrical charge generate magnetic fields, as can be
demonstrated by an electromagnet. The motion of electrical charge in the
Sun, either by the convection of mass or thermal motion, generate magnetic
fields there.
Powerful magnetic fields erupt from under the Sun’s visible surface (the
photosphere, or “sphere of light”). Where they pass through the photosphere
they have the effect of cooling the region where they emerge, causing that
region to appear darker than the surrounding solar surface. These cooler
areas we see as sunspots, ephemeral islands of cooler gas locked up in
magnetic fields that move along with the general rotational motion of the
Sun’s surface.
We can capture images of the Sun and its sunspots at different times and, by
comparing two or more images, follow the motion of the spots, and thus the
surface surrounding them.
Telescopes and magnified cameras can be used to capture these images.
Images can be made on photographic film, CCD camera chips—or directly
on a sheet of white paper, recorded by marking with pencil the locations of
all spots seen.
To create an image of the Sun, a small telescope is required. The higher the
magnification of the telescope, the larger an image of the Sun that can be
produced.
It is very important NEVER to look through the telescope’s eyepiece at the
Sun, even when pointing the telescope to find the Sun’s image. The best
way to align the telescope so that the Sun’s image emerges through the
eyepiece is to set up the telescope on a tripod and roughly aim the scope at
the Sun. You might get lucky and only have to move the scope around just a
little bit before seeing the Sun’s bright light streaming out of the eyepiece.
Or, you may have to hunt around. In either case, resist the urge to put
your eye to the eyepiece to look for the Sun; you may damage your eye,
possibly permanently.

Sunspot Tracker
Once you find the Sun’s image, place a white piece of paper under the
eyepiece, perpendicular to the optical axis of the telescope (the direction that
the light is traveling through it). Move the paper toward and away from the
eyepiece until the Sun’s disk fits in your record sheet’s circular template.
Then, adjust the telescope’s focus knob. When the edge of the Sun’s image
is sharp and clear, you’re probably near best focus. Look for sunspots—
dark spots that move around with the Sun’s image (as opposed to pieces of
dust in the telescope, which will remain fixed within the telescope’s field of
view). If you see any sunspots, you can further adjust the focus until they
are as sharp as possible.
Now, carefully record the positions and sizes of all sunspots you see by
marking them on the paper with a pencil.
Make observations one or two days apart, over the course of a week or so.
From the set of images you have recorded, you can track the motion, and
speed, of the sunspots, and thus of the Sun’s surface.
Example of Calculating Sunspot Speed and Solar

Rotation Period
The following example uses the combined images in the picture below
(recorded Oct 26th at 0:00 UT and Oct 28th at 0:00 UT, respectively—UT is
“Universal Time,” which can be treated as Greenwich Mean Time), and the
measurements are based on a printout of this page. Variable names are
defined in the Analyze Data: Step by Step instructions and work sheet.
Physical speed of sunspots: The method described here assumes that you
have chosen a sunspot that is as close to the
center of the Sun’s image as possible (so that
the sunspot you observe is moving from side
to side as much as possible, and not toward
or away from us).
Draw the lines representing the sunspot’s
latitude and the Sun’s equator (which is
parallel to the sunspot’s latitude and runs
through the center of the circle). Measure
with a ruler:
mdcl = 64 mm
mde = 67 mm
md = 14 mm

Sunspot Tracker
Calculate the actual diameter of the sunspot’s circle of latitude:

dcl = ( mdcl / mde ) * D = ( 64 / 67 ) * 865,318 = 826,572 miles
Calculate the actual distance moved by the sunspot:
d = ( md / mdcl ) * dcl = ( 14 / 64 ) * 826,572 = 180,813 miles
Calculate the speed of the sunspot:
s = d / t = 180,813 / 48 hours = 3,767 miles per hour
Rotation Period of the Sun:
Calculate the circumference of the sunspot’s circle of latitude:
c = PI * dcl = 3.1415926 * 826,572 = 2,596,752 miles
Calculate the period of rotation of the Sun:
T = c / s = 2,596,752 / 3,767 = 689 hours = 28.7 days
Alternate Method: Determining Latitude of Sunspot

The diameter of the circle of latitude for a sunspot can be calculated directly
from the latitude of the sunspot, by the equation
dcl = D * cos ( latitude )
where D is the Sun’s equatorial diameter.
You can measure the latitude of your sunspot by drawing a line from the
center of the Sun’s disk through a point on the circle’s perimeter that meets
the sunspot’s latitude line. The angle that this line makes with the equator
line is equal to the latitude of the sunspot.

Sunspot Tracker
Pinhole Projector: A Low-Cost Alternative to

Telescopes
As described in the Pinhole Camera activity, you can form an image of the
Sun by simply projecting a beam of its light through a tiny hole. The spot of
light produced is an actual solar image, its size proportional to the distance
between the pinhole and the projection surface. The longer that distance, the
larger the image of the Sun.
The size of the pinhole affects two aspects of the image: focus and
brightness. The smaller the pinhole, the more focused—but also the
fainter—the image. It’s an unfortunate tradeoff.
Building a pinhole camera of the style described in the Pinhole Camera
activity that is long enough to produce an image of the Sun suitable for
sunspot tracking is impractical. Here is a better way to build a pinhole
camera projector with which you can track sunspots. Note: This design is
modeled after the Exploratorium “Snacks” activity, “Reflections of a Star.”
Materials Needed:
A plastic soda-bottle.
A piece of 4x4 wood with a “v” groove cut down one face (the length of
the 4x4 is roughly equal to the length of the soda bottle).
A small mirror, a centimeter or two in diameter (this mirror serves as the
pinhole projector’s aperture, but instead of being a hole through which
sunlight can pass, it forms a “hole” from which sunlight is reflected; this
setup allows the beam of light to be reflected in a desired direction).
A darkened area into which a beam of sunlight can be reflected.
Construction Procedure:
Glue the small mirror to the outside surface of the soda bottle, about
halfway between the top and bottom of the bottle.
Fill the soda bottle with water (the water serves as ballast only; its optical
properties are not utilized!)
Set the 4x4 on its side with the v-shaped groove facing upward.
Lay the soda bottle on its side in the v-notch groove of the 4x4.

Sunspot Tracker
Operation Procedure:
Set the entire assembly somewhere in sunlight with the mirror facing in the
general direction of the Sun. The small mirror will reflect a beam of light.
You can rotate the 4x4 on the horizontal plane and rotate the soda bottle in
its groove holder in the vertical plane to direct the beam of sunlight in a
desired direction.
If you have wisely chosen a location to operate this pinhole projector, you
may now direct the reflected beam of sunlight into an area that is shaded and
not bright with ambient light. Ideally, if you can direct the beam into a
building, through a door or window, and darken the interior as much as
possible, then seeing the projected solar image will be much easier.
You can easily experiment with different projection distances to see what
works best for you, depending on your specific situation. A projection
distance of 10 or 20 meters is not out of the question!
The disk of light projected by this pinhole projector can be made large
enough (with a great enough projection distance) and sharp enough (by
using a small enough mirror, or a mirror masked by a piece of paper with an
appropriately sized hole cut out of it) to make useful observations of
sunspots. You may have to
sketch your image by
holding a piece of paper up
against a wall, but you will
get your data!
Right: View of the soda bottle
pinhole projector, seen on-end

Sunspot Tracker
When is high noon,
and how high is it?

California.
r
SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Sundial
Nuts and Bolts
Build a “solar powered” Sun-position measuring device.
Measure the length and direction of a shadow cast by a stick in sunlight
over the course of the day.
From your measurements, calculate the Sun’s azimuth and altitude.
Graph the azimuth and altitude.
Estimate the time of true local noon at your location.
Estimate the Sun’s altitude at true local noon.
Key Concepts
The Sun appears to move through the sky throughout the day.
The Sun’s motion through the sky on a day-to-day basis is caused by the
Earth’s rotation on its axis.
The position in the sky of the Sun can be measured from the length and
directions of shadows cast by stationary objects.
The motion in the sky of the Sun can be determined by making multiple
position measurements.
True Local Noon is the time when the Sun reaches its highest altitude for
a given day, or, alternately, the time when the Sun is directly south (for
Northern Hemisphere observers).
By measuring and graphing the altitude of the Sun in the sky at different
times during the day, the time of true local noon can be estimated.
Materials Needed
A flat base (e.g., wood, cardboard, foam-core)
A stick (the gnomon; e.g., a dowel, a toothpick)
Protractor, drawing compass
Glue, plain paper, and pen
Graph paper (for graphing data)

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
A magnetic compass and a bubble level (optional)
Introduction
Description
The sundial is an ancient device used to tell the time of day by measuring the
position of the Sun’s shadow. As the Earth spins on its axis, the Sun’s
position in the sky changes. At dawn it appears to rise from the East, climbs
to its highest point at true local noon (when it crosses the meridian of the
observer), and falls to the western horizon, departing the skies until the next
dawn. An observer’s meridian is an imaginary line drawn on the sky,
running north to south and passing through the observer’s zenith—the point
directly overhead. In the Northern Hemisphere, the Sun crosses the
meridian when it is directly south of the observer.
This apparent motion of the Sun causes shadows cast by
objects attached to the Earth to move. The sundial
makes use of this shadow motion. The simplest sundial
is made up of something that creates a shadow, called a
gnomon (pronounced nō’ mŏn), and something that the
shadow falls upon for measurement--the dial.
The sundial is most famous as a device for measuring time. Depending on
the time of day (and so the position of the Sun), the direction and length of
the gnomon’s shadow change. The dial can be marked so that the direction
of the shadow points to the time of day.
This project, however, does not make use of the sundial’s time-telling
ability. You will design, construct, and use a sundial to track the motion of
the Sun through a day, or part of a day. You will make measurements of the
direction and length of the gnomon’s shadow that allow you to calculate the
Sun’s altitude and azimuth. From this data, you will be able to estimate the
time of true local noon.
Solar-B Connection
Though Solar-B will not have a sundial on board
☺, the nature of the Sun’s motion through the
sky during the day and throughout the year is one
of the most well-known and perceivable Sun-
Earth connections. The altitude of the Sun in the
sky has a direct effect on the strength of sunlight

Sundial
SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
reaching the ground, due both to the amount of atmosphere the light must
pass through and the surface area on the Earth that it is spread across.
We have all experienced how much weaker the Sun’s rays are near sunset
than they are at high noon: too bright to look at in mid-day, you can almost
comfortably look at the Sun near sunrise and sunset (though looking directly
at the Sun is not recommended even then).
The changing maximum altitude of the Sun over the course of the year is
what causes the seasons. In winter, the Sun’s maximum altitude is not as
great as in summer, and the overall effect of solar heating over the course of
the day is weaker. Thus winter days are colder than summer days, in
general.
Azimuth and Altitude

Azimuth and altitude are two angles that pinpoint the location of an object in
the sky, relative to an observer and the observer’s horizon.
Azimuth and Altitude of an object in the sky relative to the observer (at the
center).
Azimuth: The angle measured horizontally from the geographic north to the
point on the horizon directly under the object. North is at an azimuth of 0
degrees, East at 90 degrees, South at 180 degrees, and West at 270 degrees.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Altitude: The angle measured from the point on the horizon below an
object directly upward to the object. Objects at the horizon have an altitude
of 0 degrees, while objects directly overhead have an altitude of 90 degrees.
The direction that an object’s shadow points is exactly 180 degrees (in the
opposite direction) of the light source casting the shadow. So the Sun’s
azimuth is always 180 degrees away from the direction in azimuth that an
object’s shadow points.
The altitude of the Sun can be figured by comparing the length of a shadow
and the height of the object casting the shadow.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Build It
Overview
There are many ways to make a device that measures the Sun’s position. A
very simple device is one that creates a shadow whose length and direction
can be used to determine the Sun’s position. In either case, to determine
azimuth you must be able to align your device with geographic north, so
that zero degrees on your azimuth dial points to geographical north.
This picture shows the basic idea for the vertical stick version of a sundial.
The base of the sundial should be something that you can set down on a flat,
horizontal surface (a table, the ground, the top of a wall). It should also be
something in which you can mount the stick firmly and securely. A piece of
wood is great, but even sturdy cardboard can work. The base does not have
to be circular. A square or rectangle will also work.
Step by Step
Draw the azimuth dial on the base: N
0
1. Draw two perpendicular lines that
cross each other at the center of the
base (note: these lines must intersect
at the point where the gnomon will be
mounted). These lines represent north,
W 270 90 E
south, east, and west.
2. Draw a circle centered where the two 180
perpendicular lines cross. You can use
a drawing compass or a protractor to S
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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
do this.
3. Use a protractor to mark off the circle in degrees (every 5 or 10
degrees is okay), starting with 0 degrees at the north (N) position and
counting up in the clockwise direction with 90 degrees at east (E), 180
degrees at south (S), and 270 degrees at west (W). Question: Do you
need to mark off the entire circle, or can you get away with marking
only part of the circle? If so, which part?
4. Mount the gnomon (the vertical stick) at the center of the dial circle.
It is very important that the stick is mounted perpendicular to the
base so that when the base is sitting on a flat, horizontal surface, the
stick is vertical.
5. Last, mount a magnetic
compass on the base.
The compass will help
you align the azimuth dial
with the true geographic
directions: you want
north on your dial to point
to geographic north on the
horizon.
The idea is to rotate the
base of the instrument
until the north-south line
on the dial lines up with
the compass needle.
This will align the base
dial with magnetic north –
but, of course, you want
to align your instrument In the picture above, suppose the dial’s north is aligned with true
with true geographic north. geographic north. The needle, of course, is pointing to magnetic
To use the compass to align north. The angle between the geographic N-S line and the
compass needle is then equal to the magnetic declination for the
the dial with geographic north, location on Earth where the sundial is located. When you align
draw a line somewhere on the compass needle with the diagonal line (the magnetic north
line), the main dial’s directions automatically line up with true
your dial that makes an angle geographic directions.
with the N-S line by an
amount corresponding to the magnetic declination (see the definition
of magnetic declination at the end of this section in Information for

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Teachers) for your location on Earth. When you align the base, line
up the compass needle with the magnetic line. For example, the
magnetic declination of the San Francisco Bay Area is 17 degrees
East, so if you are observing from this location you would draw your
magnetic north-south line at an angle of 17 degrees to the east of north
(clockwise).
6. An option that you might want to include on your sundial is a circular
bubble level. If you attach the bubble level to the flat base of the dial,
then you can be sure that the base is horizontal when you make a
measurement.
Below is an example of a pattern for the markings on a sundial. In this
example each angular unit, for measuring gnomon shadow azimuth, is 5
degrees. The length of the radial units, used to measure the length of the
gnomon shadow, may vary depending on the printer or photocopier used to
print this page, so do not assume the spacing! It would be best for you to
measure and draw you own dial.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Observe
Your sundial has been designed to measure the position of the Sun in the
sky. Before you observe the Sun with it, repeat the following sentence one
thousand times:
telescope, not with a camera, not with a pair of binoculars, not with
anything. Since you only have to observe a shadow cast by the Sun, you
should not have to look in the direction of the Sun anyway.
Make your measurements of gnomon height and shadow length in

millimeters.
When you make an observation with your sundial, you will first align the
dial with true geographic north. Then, you will measure and record on the
data sheet the direction (azimuth, in degrees) and length (in millimeters) of
the gnomon’s shadow. Also be sure to record the time of each measurement.
Make measurements at several different times during the day. The more
often you make measurements, the better. One of your goals is to find out
the time of true local noon, when the Sun is at its highest point in the sky, so
you need to make measurements before and after true local noon.
If possible, once you set up your instrument and align it with geographic
north, do not move it. If you cannot leave it in place, then each time you set
up the sundial and make measurements, make sure that it is aligned with
north and resting on a flat, horizontal surface.
Before you make any measurements, make sure that you fill in the
information about date, time zone, whether Daylight Savings Time (DST) is
in effect, your name, your latitude and longitude, your “magnetic
declination,” and the height of your sundial’s gnomon (in millimeters).
Step by Step
1. Set your instrument on a flat horizontal surface. To make
measurements as accurately as possible, your instrument base should
be as close to horizontal (and your gnomon as close to vertical) as
possible.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
2. Align the sundial’s base so that zero on your azimuth dial points to
geographic north (either using the magnetic compass method or
another means).
3. Without moving your instrument, measure the gnomon shadow’s
direction and length. Record your measurements on the data sheet.
4. Repeat the measurements at different times of the day, as often as
possible. Try to make some measurements before and after the time
of true local noon.
Remember, true local noon is the time when the Sun is directly south of
you—what azimuth is this? What would be the azimuth of the shadow? True
local noon is also the time when the Sun is at its highest altitude—how
would you tell this from the length of the shadow?

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Data Sheet
Date Time Zone DST: Yes /No Observer Name
Latitude Longitude Magnetic Gnomon Height

Declination
Shadow Altitude of Azimuth of Azimuth of

Length Sun Shadow Sun
Time (measure) (calculate) (measure) (calculate)
After graphing and analyzing the data (see following pages) summarize your
results here:
The time of true local noon occurred at:
The altitude of the Sun at true local noon was:

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Analyze the Data

Calculate the Sun’s Azimuth and Altitude
To complete your data log sheet, you must take your measurements of the
gnomon shadow’s direction and length and calculate the Sun’s azimuth and
altitude from them.
To calculate the Sun’s azimuth, add or subtract* 180 degrees to/from the
shadow’s azimuth (*whichever operation gives a result between 0 degrees
and 360 degrees).
To calculate the Sun’s altitude, you can either use trigonometry (as
described in the Information for Teachers at the end of this activity) or you
can draw a right triangle on graph paper whose vertical leg is the length of
the gnomon’s height and whose horizontal leg is the length of the gnomon’s
shadow (recall that the gnomon is supposed to be perpendicular to the dial’s
base, and so the gnomon’s shadow should be perpendicular to the gnomon as
well; why is this so?). Draw the right triangle’s hypotenuse from the top of
the gnomon to the tip of the shadow. The angle that the shadow makes with
the hypotenuse is the Sun’s altitude, which you can now measure with a
protractor.
Graph Your Calculations

Create two different graphs from your calculations. In one, plot the Sun’s
altitude versus time, and in the other plot the Sun’s azimuth versus time. In
each graph, draw a smooth curve or a straight line that best fits your plotted
data points. (Do not simply connect the dots; try to “fit” a curve or line to
the data points that is an average of the points.) Examples layout for the two
graphs are given below.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Examples of Data Graphs: Altitude vs Time and Azimuth vs Time
Estimate True Local Noon

There are two ways to determine the time of true local noon from your
graphs. One is to read from the azimuth graph the time when the Sun’s
azimuth was 180 degrees, directly south (or 0 degrees, directly north, if you
are in the Southern Hemisphere). The other is to read from the altitude
graph the time when the Sun reached its highest altitude.
Just for fun, find true local noon both ways and write down the times here:
Local Noon from Azimuth graph:
Local Noon from Altitude graph:
It is up to you to decide which time you want to call true local noon (or you
might want to average the two numbers).
Follow-up questions:
1. By how much time, if any, did your estimated true local noon differ
from noon according to a clock?

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
2. If Daylight Savings Time (DST) was in effect when you made your
measurements, how did this affect your measurement of true local
noon? (In other words, what would be the Standard Time for true
local noon if DST were not in effect?)
Estimate the Sun’s Altitude at True Local Noon

What was the Sun’s altitude at true local noon?
Follow-up questions:
1. How did your answer compare to the answers from others in your
class?

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL

Now that you have experienced the process of building, using, and analyzing
data from a Sun-position-tracking sundial, write down all of the things that
you would do differently (if anything) if you were to build another.
1. What would you do to improve the design of your sundial (its size,
dimensions, measurement surface)?
2. What would you do to improve the construction of your sundial (the
materials used, the methods of attaching everything together)?
3. What would you do to improve the way in which you use the sundial
to collect data from the Sun?
5. What do you now understand about the Sun that you did not
understand before?
7. In what other ways might you track the movement of the Sun in a
systematic way?
8. In what other ways might your sundial be used? Can you re-design it
to use it as a clock?
As a class:
1. Compare all of your results for true local noon and the Sun’s altitude
at that time.
2. Discuss why the results may be different.
3. Brainstorm a list of all the possible sources of error in your
measurements and calculations that might account for the differences
in results.

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Additional Activities
Pinpoint Your Location on Earth!
You can use your measurements of the Sun’s position in the sky to figure
out where you are on Earth: your latitude and longitude. This activity
assumes that you are at least somewhat familiar with the Earth’s geographic
coordinate system, the relationship between Greenwich Mean Time and your
local zone time, and the seasonal change of the Sun’s noon-time position in
the sky. You will use your estimates of the time of true local noon and the
altitude of the Sun at true local noon.
Pinpoint Your Latitude
Discussion: Because the Earth is tilted on its axis of rotation by 23.5
degrees, as the Earth revolves around the Sun the latitude at which the Sun is
directly overhead changes day to day. At Summer Solstice in the Northern
Hemisphere, the Sun is directly over the latitude of 23.5 degrees north. At
Winter Solstice, the Sun is directly over the latitude of 23.5 degrees south.
At all other times of the year the Sun is directly overhead at latitudes
between these extremes. At either Vernal or Autumnal Equinox, the Sun is
directly overhead at the Equator.
To calculate your latitude from the Sun’s maximum altitude for a given day,
you need to know the latitude where the Sun is directly overhead for that
day. If you took your measurements on or near one of the Solstices (within
two or three days of it) or on an Equinox, you may use the numbers provided
above (23.5 for Summer Solstice, -23.5 for Winter Solstice, 0 for the
Equinoxes; notice that a southern latitude is expressed as a negative
number). For any other time of the year, you will have to determine the
“sub-solar latitude” (the latitude at which the Sun is directly overhead) by
another means. A formula that approximates the sub-solar latitude is:
23.5 * sin ( (DN – 80) * 360 / 365 )
where DN is the “day number” of the year—the number of days since the
beginning of the current year. Note: If the value of (DN – 80) is a negative
number, then add 365 to the result. Note: The value of 80 is subtracted
from the day number since the Vernal Equinox, March 21st, has a day
number of 80 (on non-leap-years); this makes the sin term zero on Vernal
Equinox and approximately zero on Autumnal Equinox, when the subsolar
latitude is at the equator, or zero degrees.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Note: Another way to determine the sub-solar latitude is to read it from a

graph called the Analemma. There is an Analemma at the end of this
activity in the Information for Teachers section.
To calculate your latitude in the Northern Hemisphere:
latitude = 90 – altitude + subSolarLatitude
For example, if the sub-solar latitude is 23.5 degrees (as it would be at
Summer Solstice in the Northern Hemisphere), the equation would read:
latitude = 90 – altitude + 23.5
where the altitude is the value you estimated for the Sun at true local
noon.
Pinpoint Your Longitude
Discussion: Your longitude, the number of degrees east or west of the Prime
Meridian (the meridian of Greenwich, England), can be determined from
your estimate of true local noon at your location expressed in Greenwich
Mean Time (GMT). Imagine the stationary Sun in relation to the rotating
surface of the Earth. At any given time, the Sun is at true local noon for
some longitude on Earth. The exact longitude changes constantly as the
Earth spins under the Sun.
The Sun passes through true local noon at Greenwich, England, at 12:00
GMT (noon in Greenwich—and because Greenwich is located on the Prime
Meridian, true local noon and standard (zone) noon occur at the same time).
Now, because the Earth rotates toward the east at a rate of 15 degrees of
longitude per hour (360 degrees divided by 24 hours), one hour after 12:00
GMT the Sun will pass through true local noon at a longitude 15 degrees
west of Greenwich. Two hours after 12:00 GMT it will be true local noon at
a longitude of 30 degrees west of Greenwich, and so on.
Put another way, if you know that the Sun passed through true local noon for
your location two hours past 12:00 GMT (in other words, 14:00 GMT, on
the 24-hour clock), then you know that you are:
2 hours * 15 degrees/hour = 30 degrees
westward of Greenwich—in other words, you have a longitude of 30 degrees
west.
The following equation can be used to calculate your longitude:
Longitude = (GMT – 12 hours) * 360 / 24

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
where GMT is the Greenwich Mean Time that true local noon occurred at
your location, which you estimated from your Sundial measurements. If you
recorded the time in hours and minutes, before you use this equation you
must first convert the GMT to decimal form. To do this, divide the minutes
of time by 60 and add this result to the hours. For example, a GMT of 9:37
= 9 + 37/60 = 9.62 in decimal form.
If the answer you get is a negative number, then the longitude is east of
Greenwich. If the answer is positive, then the longitude is west of
Greenwich.
To convert your true local noon to GMT, do the following:
1. If Daylight Savings Time is in effect, first subtract one hour from your
estimated true local noon.
2. Next, add or subtract the appropriate number of whole hours based on
the standard time zone you are in. For example, the Pacific Standard
Time Zone (8 zones west of Greenwich) is 8 hours earlier than GMT,
so one would convert a PST zone time to GMT by adding 8 hours to
the local time (PST is 8 hours earlier than GMT; GMT is 8 hours later
than PST). The standard time zone that is 5 zones east of Greenwich
is 5 hours later than GMT, so people in this zone would subtract 5
hours from their local time to find out what time it is in Greenwich.
3. If your result is less than 0 or greater than 23, you must add or
subtract 24 hours to correct for the fact that there has been a crossover
to a different day. For example, if the calculated GMT is 26:00, then
subtract 24 hours to put the result within the range of 0 to 23 hours, in
this case 26:00 minus 24 hours gives 2:00. If the result is, say, –7:00,
then add 24 hours to get 17:00.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Activity Summary
Latitude and Longitude Worksheet
Latitude
Date of Measurements:
Altitude of Sun at True Local Noon:
Sub-solar Latitude:
Your Calculated Latitude:
Your Actual Latitude (look it up):
Longitude
Date of Measurements:
True Local Noon1:
DST Correction2:
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT)3:
Your Calculated Longitude:
Your Actual Longitude (look it up):
1: This is the true local noon that you have calculated.
2: For the DST correction, subtract 1 hour from your true local noon IF AND ONLY IF your true local
noon is in Daylight Savings Time.
3: To get the GMT add, or subtract, the number of hours your local standard time differs from Greenwich
Mean Time (for example, to convert Pacific Standard Time to GMT, add 8 hours).

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL

Altitude and Azimuth
In order to measure an object’s position in the sky, you need to know about
altitude and azimuth.
Azimuth: The angle measured Altitude: The angle measured from

along the horizon from geographic the point on the horizon below an
north to the point directly below an object straight up to the object.
object.
Altitude and azimuth are coordinates describing the angular position of an

object in space, relative to a central point (the position of an observer on the
surface of the Earth). The altitude of an object is the angle, measured in
degrees, between the point on the horizon directly below the object straight
upward to the object. The azimuth of an object is the angle measured along
the horizon from geographic north to the point on the horizon directly below
the object.
Calculating Altitude Using Trigonometry

For students who like to use trigonometry, the altitude of the Sun can easily
be calculated from the height of the gnomon and the length of its shadow,
assuming that the gnomon is perpendicular to the dial on which the shadow
is cast (as it’s supposed to be). The gnomon and its shadow form the legs of

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
a right triangle, as shown below. The hypotenuse of the triangle is the line
drawn from the gnomon’s top to the tip of its shadow. To calculate the
altitude angle, calculate the ratio of the gnomon height divided by the
shadow length and take the inverse tangent of this ratio. This gives the
altitude.
altitude = tan-1 ( (gnomon height) / (shadow length) )
Magnetic Declination
If the Earth’s geographic poles and the
magnetic poles were in the same
locations then a magnetic compass
would point exactly in the direction of
the geographic North Pole. However,
the geographic poles and the magnetic
poles are not in the same places on the
Earth.
You may use a magnetic compass to
align your instrument with geographic
north. To be able to do this correctly,
you need to know the magnetic
declination of your location on Earth.
Most topographical maps contain a
directional legend showing the local
magnetic declination. Learn more
about this topic at the United States
Above: Cross-section of the Earth, cut through the
Geologic Survey website (see Web geographic and magnetic axes. The axis of rotation
Resources in Introduction). (geographic axis) and the magnetic axis are not parallel,
and so their “poles” (where they meet the Earth’s surface)
are not at the same locations.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Geographic North: This is the direction of the Earth’s geographic north

pole as seen from a given location on Earth. Geographic north is used to
reference directions of travel along the
N
Earth’s surface. The Earth’s Geographic
Geographic Poles are the points where North
Magnetic
the Earth’s axis of rotation and surface North
intersect.
Magnetic North: The direction of the
pole of the Earth’s magnetic field in W Magnetic E
the Northern Hemisphere as seen from Declination
a particular location on Earth.
Magnetic compass needles point to the
Your
Earth’s magnetic poles. Location
Magnetic Declination: From a given S
location on Earth, the magnetic
declination is the angle measured from true (geographic) north to magnetic
north. For example, in the San Francisco Bay Area the magnetic declination
is about 17 degrees east of north. In other words, in the San Francisco Bay
Area a magnetic compass needle will point 17 degrees to the east of (to the
right of) true geographic north.
Longitude, Local Noon, and GMT

A meridian is a line drawn on the Earth’s surface from the North Geographic
Pole to the South Geographic Pole. Any two locations that are east or west
of each other, even by a
small amount, are on
different meridians.
The Prime Meridian is the
meridian that runs through
Greenwich, England. The
longitude of Greenwich is 0
degrees.
Longitude is the angle
measured east or west from
the Prime Meridian to
another meridian.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
A location to the east of the Prime Meridian has a longitude expressed in

“degrees east,” while a location to the west is so many “degrees west” of
Greenwich’s meridian.
Local noon is the time when the Sun reaches its highest point in the sky
during the day at a given location on Earth. Local noon does not necessarily
occur at 12:00 o’clock, as you might think. “12:00 o’clock noon” by the
clock is merely a standard noon agreed upon as noon for everyone living
within a particular “slice” of the Earth between two meridians, called a
standard time zone. Since the Earth rotates smoothly and continuously, the
clock time at which true local noon occurs may be different for you than for
someone on a different meridian—even if you and that other person are
within the same standard time zone (your clocks will agree when 12:00
o’clock occurs, but the times of true local noon will differ).
Luckily, if you measure the time at which the Sun reaches its highest point
(true local noon) and convert that time to Greenwich Mean Time, you don’t
have to worry about zone time.
Imagine this: It is local noon in Greenwich, England. Local noon occurs at
12:00 GMT for Greenwich. As the Earth rotates (once in 24 hours with
respect to the Sun) the meridian on Earth that the Sun is directly over
“moves” to the west, at a rate of 360 degrees of longitude (one full circle
around the Earth) every 24 hours—or 15 degrees per hour. One hour after
local noon in Greenwich, true local noon occurs for the meridian 15 degrees
to the west of Greenwich.
Question: If the longitude of your city is 150 degrees west of Greenwich,
what will be the time in Greenwich (the GMT) when true local noon occurs
for you?
Answer: If the GMT is 12:00 when the Sun passes directly over
Greenwich’s longitude, and the meridian at which local noon occurs
moves off to the west at 15 degrees per hour, then the Sun reaches
local noon at 150 degrees west longitude 10 hours later, or at 22:00
GMT (10:00 PM on the 12-hour clock). 15 degrees per hour times 10
hours is 150 degrees.
Question: You measure the GMT when the Sun reaches true local noon to
be 4:30 GMT. What is your longitude?
Answer: 4:30 GMT occurs 7 hours and 30 minutes before 12:00
GMT, so local noon at Greenwich will occur 7 hours and 30 minutes

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
(7.5 hours) after it occurs at your meridian. Since the GMT of your
local noon is before 12:00 GMT, you are east of Greenwich. If the
point at which it is local noon moves 15 degrees per hour westward,
then you are 7.5 hours times 15 degrees per hour = 112.5 degrees east
of Greenwich. Your longitude is 112.5 degrees east.
Latitude, Sun Angle, and the Earth’s Axial Tilt

Latitude is the angle between the Earth’s equator and a given latitude on the
Earth, measured directly northward or southward. Locations on the equator
have a latitude of 0 degrees. Moving north, toward the North Pole, the
latitude increases, up to 90 degrees (the latitude of the North Pole).
Northern latitudes are expressed as so many degrees “north.” In the
Southern Hemisphere, latitudes are expressed in “degrees south.”
The altitude of the Sun (the angle measured from the horizon straight
upward to the Sun) depends on two factors: the time of day and the day of
the year. The relationship between time of day and altitude of the Sun is
easy to see: it changes all day long, being zero degrees at sunrise, climbing
through the sky for half the day to reach a maximum altitude, then falling
toward the western horizon during the afternoon and again reaching zero
altitude at sunset.
The dependence of Sun altitude on time of year is a little more complicated.
To make things easier, we will discuss the Sun altitude at true local noon—
the highest altitude that the Sun reaches on a given day.
The Sun’s maximum altitude varies throughout the year due to the fact that
the Earth’s axis of rotation is tilted—about 23.5 degrees—with respect to the
plane in which the Earth orbits the Sun. During the Northern Hemisphere’s
summer, the Sun passes directly overhead in northern latitudes. At true local
noon on the Summer Solstice the Sun has an altitude of 90 degrees for
people located on the Tropic of Cancer, at a latitude of 23.5 degrees north.
Six months later, at the Winter Solstice, the Earth has gone halfway around
the Sun and now people at the Tropic of Capricorn (a latitude of 23.5
degrees south) see the Sun pass directly overhead at true local noon.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
equator N N
axis of
rotation
Sun
S S
Summer in Winter in
Northern Northern
Hemisphere Hemisphere
Because of the tilt of the Earth’s axis of rotation, the maximum altitude of
the Sun changes constantly throughout the year for a given location.
To determine your latitude from a measurement of the Sun’s altitude at your
true local noon, you need only to perform simple math. It is easiest to do
this experiment at or near a solstice (Summer or Winter), but it can be done
any time of year as long as you can determine for any given day the latitude
at which the Sun passes directly overhead.
The equation is:
yourLatitude = 90 – sunAltitudeAtLocalNoon +
latitudeWhereSunIsDirectlyOverhead
The value of sunAltitudeAtLocalNoon is the value that you measure for the
Sun’s maximum altitude (i.e., at true local noon), and the value of
latitudeWhereSunIsDirectlyOverhead depends on the day of year. On the
Summer Solstice (June 20th), this value is 23.5 degrees. At Winter Solstice
(December 21st), the value is –23.5 degrees. (Though the value of the
latitude where the Sun passes directly overhead changes from day to day, it
changes more slowly around the solstices than at any other time of year, so
you can use the numbers given here for a week or so before and after a
solstice.) See the Analemma graph in the next section to determine the
“subsolar latitude” for any day of the year.
How To Determine True Local Noon

Of course the best way to determine the exact time of your true local noon is
to measure it very accurately, such as with a sundial…but since that
measurement is the subject of this activity, you need to determine the true
local noon at your location independently, for comparison. This section is
an explanation and cookbook method of how to do this.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
There are three basic steps to calculating the true local noon of your
location. In a nutshell (and explained in more detail below):
1. Time Zone Meridian: Multiply the difference in hours between your
time zone time and that of Greenwich (GMT) by 15 degrees. This
will give you the longitude (east or west of Greenwich) of the
meridian at which your time zone is based.
2. Your Meridian: Find your longitude, converting to decimal form if
necessary.
3. Difference: Find the difference between the longitudes of your Time
Zone’s meridian and your meridian and divide that difference by 15
degrees per hour. This will give you the time difference between the
true local noon of your Time Zone’s meridian and the true local noon
of your meridian.
4. Add or subtract the difference above from 12:00 noon to get your true
local noon. If your longitude is west of your Time Zone’s meridian,
add the difference, otherwise subtract it. But wait! You’re not done
yet. You must make a correction for the Analemma, described below.
5. Analemma Correction: Once you correct for the Analemma, your
result should be your true local noon!
Time Zone Meridian
The standardized clock time for your time zone is based on the true local
noon at a specific meridian within your time zone. Though the actual
boundaries on the east and west sides of a time zone can vary drastically
depending on where in the world you are (sometimes following national
borders or geographic features), the standard time of most zones is set to the
true local noon of a meridian in the middle, more or less, of that zone. The
boundaries of a time zone—the borders at which you would change your
clock when traveling between zones—lie at the edges.
In general, the meridians of the Earth to which time zone times are
standardized are spaced 15 degrees of longitude apart, starting at Greenwich,
England. Therefore the meridians whose true local noons are used as the
standard time for their time zones are located at 0, 15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 90,
105, 120, 135, 150, 165, and 180 degrees longitude, east and west of
Greenwich. Since these meridians are exactly 15 degrees apart, the true time
difference between them is exactly 1 hour from one of these meridians to the
next (Earth rotates at 360 degrees per 24 hours, or 15 degrees per hour).

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Consult a time zone map to determine which of these meridians is the basis
for your time zone’s standard time. If you know the time difference between
your zone and GMT (Greenwich Mean Time), then you can calculate the
standard meridian in your time zone. For example, the Pacific Time Zone is
–8 hours (west) from Greenwich. 8 hours x 15 degrees per hour is 120
degrees. The Pacific Time Zone, then, is based on the true local noon at the
meridian 120 degrees west of Greenwich.
Your Meridian
The next step is to obtain the longitude of your location. This you must look
up. As an example, the longitude of Oakland, California, is 122 degrees and
19 minutes, or 122 + 19/60 = 122.316 degrees.
Zone Time and Local Time Difference
The difference between your longitude and that of your Time Zone’s
standard meridian is also the difference in time between the true local noons
of those two meridians—it just has to be converted from degrees of
longitude to hours of the day. For example, the difference in longitude
between Oakland, California and the Pacific Time Zone’s standard meridian
(120 degrees west) is 122.316 – 120.000 = 2.316 degrees. Since the Earth
rotates 15 degrees per hour, then the time difference between when the Sun
is at true local noon over the Pacific standard meridian and the meridian of
Oakland is 2.316 degrees / 15 degrees per hour = 0.1544 hours, or 9.264
minutes. Note that Oakland is west of the standard meridian, and so its true
local noon occurs after that of standard time—9.264 minutes after. So, true
local noon occurs at Oakland at 12:09 PM (seconds rounded off) (or 1:09 PM
during Daylight Savings Time).
But wait! You’re not on time yet. The method for calculating true local
noon above is based on the assumption that the Sun moves steadily and
continuously through the sky, without changes in speed. In fact, it does not.
Analemma Correction
The time at which the Sun arrives at its highest altitude in your sky changes
from day to day over the course of the year. The reasons for this will not be
discussed in detail here, but you should be aware that, depending on the day
of the year, the exact time of true local noon will change.
In brief, there are two separate effects going on that cause this variation: the
Earth’s 23.5 degree tilt on its axis and the Earth’s non-circular, elliptical
orbit around the Sun.

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SOLAR-B SUNDIAL
Each of these things contributes to the variation in true local noon. The
combination of the variations can be combined in one easy-to-read graph,
called an Analemma.
To the right is an Analemma
that you can use to get the
correction for your calculated
true local noon. Simply find the
time of year on the figure-eight
curve and read from the
horizontal axis the number of
minutes indicated. For instance,
if it’s March 1st, locate March
on the curve and read from the
horizontal axis, in this case
about –13 minutes. (If you’re
some time in the middle of the
month, try to interpolate the
exact date on the curve—for
instance if it’s March 15, locate
the point on the curve midway
between March and April; in
this case the time difference
read from the horizontal axis is
about –8 minutes.)
A negative value for the correction means that the Sun is “running slow,”
and so true local noon (when the Sun finally reaches its highest altitude) will
be that many minutes later and so you would add that number of minutes to
your calculated true local noon. A positive value means that the Sun is
“running fast,” and so will reach its highest altitude that many minutes
sooner, and so you would subtract that many minutes from your calculated
true local noon.
The vertical axis shows the “subsolar latitude” on that date—the latitude at
which the Sun is directly overhead (at the zenith). Though the subsolar
latitude is not important for determining the Analemma correction, it is
useful for the activity of pinpointing your location on Earth from your
sundial measurements.

Sundial
All the Sun
through the eye
of a pinhole

California.
l
SOLAR-B PINHOLE CAMERA
Pinhole Camera
Nuts and Bolts
Build a specialized, Sun-measuring pinhole camera.
Safely observe the Sun with the pinhole camera and record image size
measurements.
Calculate the diameter of the Sun from your measurements and a known
distance to the Sun.
Key Concepts
Light rays tend to travel in straight lines.
Light rays emitted or reflected by an object that pass through a small hole
can project an image of the object on the other side.
An image of an object can be used to determine the object’s size or the
distance to the object.
The ability of the human eye’s lens to focus an image on the retina is
aided by the eye’s pupil (the eye’s aperture), which acts as a pinhole
camera.
Materials Needed
Cardboard tube (the longer the better)
Cardboard tube scraps
Aluminum foil
A sharp pin
Tape
Graph paper (with millimeter grid)

Pinhole Camera
Introduction
Description
Solar-B will use mirrors, lenses, CCD cameras, and other optical
components to form images of the Sun. From these images the sizes of
objects and events on the Sun – and the Sun’s disk itself – can be measured.
You will measure the diameter of the Sun using aluminum foil, a cardboard
tube, graph paper, and a pin!
0.5
degrees 0.5
Above: The disk of the Sun shown with a scale of angular separation on the sky. The
Sun’s disk is approximately one half degree across as seen from Earth.
A pinhole camera is the world’s simplest image-forming device. You may
believe that the only way to take a picture is with an expensive set of lenses
and other mechanical accessories. After all, human eyes and cameras and
telescopes all use intricate optics to function as they do. Would you believe
that a simple pinhole in a piece of foil or paper would do the trick!
Light shining from an object (the Sun, the Moon, a traffic light, a person)
through a small pinhole will form an image of the object on the other side,
much as a camera’s lens forms an image of an object on the sheet of film
behind the lens. In this case, however, the pinhole serves as the lens.
Solar-B Connection

Pinhole Camera
An important part of the work to be done by

Solar-B scientists will be the measuring of
motion of the materials on the Sun. One of the
main subjects of study will be how events and
processes such as sunspots, solar magnetic
fields, flares, prominences, and other dynamic
solar features are born, develop, and dissipate.
A complete picture of the life cycle of these events will be possible with the
data collected by Solar-B.
Cameras on Solar-B will take series of images of the Sun’s surface, and the
motion of materials and magnetic fields will be seen and measured through
comparisons of the images.

Pinhole Camera
Build It
Step by Step
Pinhole Camera: Assembly Diagram

1. Find and/or assemble the tube. The tube should be at least 30 inches
long, but even longer is better. (Gift-wrap-paper cardboard tubes can
be used, either in single lengths or taped together end-to-end.)
2. Near one end of the tube (half an inch or less from the end), cut out a
hole. The hole should be large enough so that you can see most of the
opening at the end of the tube from the inside.
3. Cut out a piece of lined graph paper (with a millimeter grid spacing, if
possible) just large enough to fit in one end of the tube.
4. Tape the graph paper to cover the opening at the end of the tube—the
same end in which you cut the viewing hole.
5. Cut out a piece of aluminum foil just large enough to fit on the end of
the tube opposite the graph paper. (Or you could cut out a larger
piece that can be wrapped over the end of the tube, as shown in the
diagram.)
6. Tape the foil to the end of the tube opposite the graph paper. Note: It
is important that the foil be smooth, flat, and taut, like a drumhead.
7. Using a sharp point no bigger than that of a pin, poke a very small
hole in the center of the aluminum foil.
8. Your pinhole camera is ready to use!

Pinhole Camera
Observe
Your pinhole camera has been designed specifically to measure the
diameter of the Sun. Before you observe the Sun with it, repeat the
following sentence one thousand times:
telescope, not with a camera, not with a pair of binoculars, and not with
your pinhole camera. The design of you pinhole camera makes it easy to
measure the size of the Sun’s image without being in danger of accidentally
letting direct sunlight into your eyes. When you point the tube at the Sun
and look into the viewer, you are looking away from the Sun, which is
always the safest thing to do.
Step by Step
1. Stand facing away from the Sun.
2. Lift the viewer hole to your eye and point the tube over your shoulder
in the direction of the Sun.
3. Try to find the Sun’s image on the graph paper, looking through the
viewing hole.
When your pinhole camera is pointed properly at the Sun, you will see
a small spot of light on the graph paper. The size of the spot will
depend on the length of your pinhole camera.
If you have difficulty finding the Sun’s image (which will be a small
and possibly faint spot of light on the graph paper) there is a trick you
can try: Look at the shadow that your pinhole camera tube casts on
the ground and move the camera around until its shadow is as small as
possible. When the tube is pointed directly at the Sun, its shadow will
be at its smallest.
4. When you find the Sun’s image, attempt to measure its size by
counting the number of millimeter lines on the graph paper that it
covers, from edge to edge (the image’s diameter). Make as careful a
measurement as you can.

Pinhole Camera
If you have trouble reading the size of the Sun’s image because you
cannot hold the camera still enough, try resting the camera on some
solid object (a table, a chair, a window sill).
5. Record all of your measurements on the Data Sheet.

Pinhole Camera
Data Sheet
Measure the length of your tube from pinhole to projection screen. You
should be accurate to the nearest 0.1 centimeter and then convert to meters
by dividing by 100. Example: 65.2 cm = 0.652 m.
Measure the height of your image of the Sun on the millimeter grid. Make
at least three measurements and average your results. Show your work and
record your result in millimeters. (This is the “h” value.)
Trial #1__________ Trial #2__________ Trial #3__________
Convert the Sun image height to meters by dividing by 1000. Example: 8.5
mm = 0.0085 m. Show your work.
The mean distance to the Sun (your “D” value) is 1.496 x 1011 meters (about
93 million miles).
For a pinhole camera, the relationship between the object size, the object
distance, and the length of the camera is simple:
H/D=h/d
where H is the actual height (diameter) of the Sun, D is the distance to the
Sun, h is the height of the Sun’s image on your projection screen, and d is
the length of your camera tube.

Pinhole Camera
The diameter of the Sun, H, can be expressed as:

H = D ( h/d )
Using your values for D, h, and d, calculate the diameter of the Sun.
Carefully show the setup and all of your work here. Make sure all of your
numbers are in meters, and your answer is in scientific notation rounded to
two decimal places. Example: 7.36 x 106 meters.
Questions
1. How close to the actual value is your value for the diameter of the
Sun? In other words, was it within 0.1 x 109 meters, or not?
2. What could have caused your answer to be inaccurate?
3. How close to the class average is your value for the diameter of the
Sun?
4. Explain how pinhole cameras of different lengths can achieve similar

results for the diameter of the Sun.

Pinhole Camera

data from a Sun-size measuring pinhole camera, write down all of the things
that you would do differently (if anything) if you were to build another.
1. What would you do to improve the design of your camera (its size,
dimensions, measurement surface, pinhole)?
2. What would you do to improve the construction of your camera (the
materials used, the methods of attaching everything together)?
3. What would you do to improve the way in which you use the camera
to collect data from the Sun?

Pinhole Camera
Instrument Improvement
Pinhole Size
Determine the effect of pinhole size on Sun image size.
Poke three holes, of different sizes, into the aluminum foil at your pinhole
camera’s aperture end. Try using a thumbtack to make one of the holes, a
pinpoint for another, and perhaps a very thin, sharp staple for a third. Space
the three holes about a centimeter apart from one another.
Observe the Sun with your triple-pinhole camera. Measure the image size
for each of the three holes.
Calculate the Sun’s diameter for each image size. Answer the following
questions:
1. Is there a difference in the calculated diameter of the Sun for each of
the different pinhole sizes? If so, what is the difference? Plot your
results on a graph of Sun diameter versus pinhole size.
2. How important is pinhole size in producing accurate measurements?
3. Is there a difference in the brightnesses of the images produced by
each pinhole? If so, why is this?
The larger the pinhole, the more out of focus will be the image of the Sun’s
disk. Smaller holes produce sharper images, and more accurate results.
Camera Length
Modify your pinhole camera to give it a different length (a different distance
between pinhole and graph paper).
Measure the size of the Sun again and record your results. If you have
created three different-sized pinholes for the previous experiment, go ahead
and make measurements for all three.
Calculate the Sun’s diameter from your measurements. Compare the results
to those you obtained with the original pinhole camera.
Note: It is important that when you compare the results from cameras of
different lengths, you compare the results using the same pinhole apertures
in each case. If you have built a new camera to do this experiment, then you
either need to transplant the aluminum foil with the pinhole from your first
camera, or take great care in making the pinholes the same size.
Pinhole Camera
1. Is there a difference in the results?

2. Which camera, if any, produced more accurate results?
3. If one of the cameras did produce more accurate results, why do you
think it did?
Sun’s Angular Size

Note: This activity uses trigonometry.
Given the size of and mean distance to the Sun, as listed in the Appendix of
this section, calculate the angular size, A, of the Sun using trigonometry:
A = 2 tan-1 [ H / (2D) ]
The Earth does not orbit the Sun on a perfect circular path, but on a slightly
elongated ellipse. This means that at different times of the year, the Earth is
closer to or farther away from the Sun than the mean distance. The time
when the Earth is closest to the Sun is called perihelion, and the time when it
is farthest from the Sun is called aphelion. The values for the perihelion
distance and aphelion distance are listed in the Appendix of this section.
Calculate the angular size of the Sun at (1) perihelion and (2) aphelion.
Present the two results by drawing properly scaled, concentric circles using a
drawing compass. You can represent the angular sizes in degrees in terms of
inches or centimeters on the paper you draw on.
Example: Drawing in centimeters, with a conversion factor of 1 degree per
10 centimeters. If the angular diameter of the Sun you have calculated is 0.4
degrees across, then the diameter of the circle you draw on paper is 0.4
degrees times 10 centimeters per degree, or 4 centimeters.
Draw both circles using the same center point.
Does the difference in the distance to the Sun between perihelion and
aphelion make a big difference? Do you think you would be able to measure
the difference using your pinhole camera?

Pinhole Camera

The size that objects appear in the field of view of a magnified imaging
system (a camera, a telescope) depends on the actual size of the object, the
distance to the object, and the magnification of the imaging system. Though
a pinhole camera uses no optics, the size of the images it produces still
depends on three factors: object size, object distance, and the length of the
pinhole camera (the distance from the pinhole aperture to the projection
surface).
Ratio Method
For a pinhole camera, the relationship between the object size, the object
distance, and the length of the camera is simple:
H/D=h/d
where H is the actual size of the object, D is the distance from the pinhole
camera aperture to the object, h is the size of the object’s image in the
pinhole camera, and d is the distance from the pinhole camera aperture to the
image projection surface.
Relationship between image height h, projection distance d, object distance D, and object
height H
For the purpose of measuring the diameter of the Sun (D), the distance to the
Sun (H) has to be known (obtained by some other means; see the Appendix
of this section for the Sun’s mean distance from Earth).
The length of the pinhole camera, d, can be measured with a ruler, leaving
only the size of the image of, h, as an unknown. This value, h, is what is
measured with the pinhole camera. The diameter of the Sun, D, can be
expressed as:

Pinhole Camera
D = H (d / h)
Trigonometric Method
Another method of calculating H is by trigonometry. Other than exercising
your skills in trigonometry, the only real advantage to using this method is
that it allows you to express the apparent angular size of the object without
knowledge of the true size or distance. The trigonometric solution makes
use of the geometry shown below by forming a right triangle from half of
the image size and the pinhole camera length.
Knowing the angular size of an object is useful. Unlike the direct image
size on the pinhole camera projection surface, the angular size is
independent of whatever camera or device that measured it.
The next step along the trigonometric road is to apply the reverse of the
equation to the geometry of the actual object’s size and distance, H and D.
Start by using the same equation, which becomes:
(H/2) / D = tan (A/2)
Solving for H (assuming that D, the distance to the Sun, is known; see the
Appendix), the Sun’s size is:
H = 2 D tan (A/2)

Pinhole Camera
Appendix A
The Sun’s Dimensions
Mean Distance to the Sun—kilometers: 149,597,870
Mean Distance to the Sun—miles: 92,960,116
Diameter of the Sun—equatorial, kilometers: 1,392,530
Diameter of the Sun—equatorial, miles: 865,318
Perihelion Distance to Sun—kilometers: 146,605,913
Aphelion Distance to Sun—kilometers: 152,589,827

Pinhole Camera
Fingerprinting
the luminous suspects

California.
SOLAR-B SPECTROSCOPE
Spectroscope
Nuts and Bolts
Explore how a diffraction grating affects light.
Understand that the different colors seen through the grating correspond
to different wavelengths of light.
Build a simple grating spectroscope, with a scale for measuring
wavelengths.
Observe different sources of light with your spectroscope and record their
spectra.
Identify specific spectral lines found in more than one type of light
source.
Analyze the collected data.
Key Concepts
Light has wave-like properties.
The distance between successive wave “crests” in a light wave is the
wavelength of the light.
The wavelength of light waves is very small, and usually measured in
nanometers.
1 nanometer = 1 billionth of a meter; 1 billion nanometers equals 1 meter.
Light waves normally travel in straight lines.
The direction of a light wave’s travel can be changed by the phenomena
of reflection, diffraction and refraction.
The amount by which a light wave’s direction of travel is changed by
diffraction or refraction depends on the wavelength of the light.
A spectrum is a range of values or properties: the electromagnetic
spectrum is the range of all possible wavelengths of light; the visible
spectrum is the range of all wavelengths of light that the human eye can
detect; the wavelengths of light present in a given source of light is that
source’s spectrum.

Spectroscope
With special instruments such as spectroscopes we can separate the

different wavelengths of light and learn exactly what wavelengths are
present in a given source of light.
The wavelengths of light present in a light source can tell us what
chemical elements emitted the light.
Materials Needed
A diffraction grating
A frosted incandescent lamp
A fluorescent lamp
Additional light sources (gas emission lamps. neon lamps, LEDs)
A small box (a shoebox is perfect)
Scissors
Utility knife
Tape
An aperture. A pair of straight, thin, opaque objects placed edge to edge
to form a narrow gap, or slit, between is good. Sometimes razor blades
are used, but a pair of playing cards or other thin, opaque cardboard
works well without the danger of cutting yourself.
Graph paper

Spectroscope
Introduction
Description
In this activity you will learn how a diffraction grating works, and you will
add features and capabilities to the diffraction grating to build the instrument
called a spectroscope. You will use your spectroscope to observe and record
the spectra of different sources of light.
Solar-B Connection
One of Solar-B’s most important instruments
will be a spectroscope combined with a
polarimeter, together called a spectro-
polarimeter.
This system will allow Solar-B scientists to
measure the brightness of and polarization of the
light of a wide range of wavelengths
simultaneously. Being able to separate the wavelengths of light is important
because it allows scientists to select the light emitted by specific chemical
elements, some of which are much more sensitive to the presence of the
solar magnetic fields in which they are suspended.
The shape and structure of the magnetic field will be much easier to observe
by measuring the polarization of the light from these “magnetically
sensitive” elements.
From sets of data gathered with the spectro-polarimeter, the entire life cycle
of solar magnetic fields and explosive magnetic events will be captured and
revealed to us.
Background
Light is a wave, like waves or ripples on the surface of water. Light,
however, is a wave of electromagnetism, not water. That is, light is an
oscillating electric field and magnetic field, traveling together. For this
reason a light wave is called an electromagnetic wave. Light is also known
as electromagnetic radiation.
Like water waves, which can be characterized by
the height of each wave and the distance between Amplitude
successive waves, light waves have characteristic
amplitude (strength) and wavelength (distance Wavelength
between waves). Light waves are also

Spectroscope
characterized by the property of frequency, which is how frequently the

waves pass by an observer in succession (how many waves pass by an
observer in a given amount of time).
It is the wavelength (or the frequency) of a particular light
wave that determines what type of electromagnetic radiation
it is. The entire range of possible wavelengths of light is
called the electromagnetic spectrum. Light of the longest
wavelength (ranging from centimeters to kilometers long) we
call radio waves. That segment of the electromagnetic
spectrum is called the radio spectrum or radio band (not to be
confused with a musical band heard on the radio…). At the other extreme,
light with the shortest wavelengths – which
measure smaller than the nucleus of an atom – we Visible Band
call gamma radiation.

The segment of the electromagnetic spectrum that v g
y o
i b e r r
we call the visible spectrum or visible band – the o l
r
l a e
e
entire range of light that our human eyes can detect l u
e
l n d
– is a very, very small portion of the entire e e o g
n
t w e
spectrum. In wavelength, the visible spectrum
ranges from 400 nanometers to 700 nanometers (1
nanometer is equal to one billionth of a meter). 400 500 600 700
Our eyes perceive the different wavelengths of
light in the visible spectrum as different colors. Wavelength (nanometers)
The shortest wavelength of visible light we

perceive as violet. Longer and longer wavelengths we see as blue, green,
yellow, orange, and red, red having the longest wavelength of the visible
spectrum.
Each chemical substance – each atom and each molecule in nature – emits a
very specific and unique set of wavelengths of light. By separating and
measuring the different wavelengths (colors) of light from a source we can
identify what that source is made of, even at a very great distance (the Sun,
planets, stars, distant galaxies). In this way the element helium was detected
on the Sun before it was ever discovered on Earth.
A diffraction grating is a tool that scientists use to
separate the different wavelengths of light. You will
explore what a diffraction grating does and how you
can use it to build a spectroscope to observe and
analyze the spectra of different sources of light.

Spectroscope
Activity 1: Explore How the Diffraction Grating

Works
Materials Needed
A frosted incandescent lamp
A fluorescent lamp
Additional light sources (gas emission lamps. neon lamps, LEDs)
To Do: Incandescent Light Source

1. Turn on your frosted incandescent bulb.
2. Look through your diffraction grating at the incandescent bulb.
3. Carefully sketch what you see through the grating (you can leave out
any background scenery that you see, such as walls, windows, doors,
other students, etc.).
4. While looking through the grating at the bulb, rotate the grating once
(a full 360 degrees). What do you notice as you rotate the grating?
5. Sketch what you observed.

Spectroscope
To Notice: Incandescent Light Source

What you might have noticed when looking at the bulb through the grating is
that there are three different things to look at (other than background
scenery).
1. You can see the light bulb itself just as if you were looking through a
piece of glass.
2. On opposite sides of the bulb you should see two smears of
multicolored light, the colors arranged so that blue is closest to the
light bulb and red farthest. You may have seen something like this:
3. When you rotate the grating, you probably notice that the positions of
the color smears rotate around the light bulb, and by adjusting the
rotation of the grating you can place the smears wherever you want
them.

Spectroscope
To Do: Fluorescent Light Source

1. Turn on your fluorescent lamp tube. Most classrooms are equipped
with these. Note: This activity will work much better if you have a
single, bare fluorescent tube to view. If you are looking at a ceiling
lamp that has a cover over it, and perhaps more than one tube in the
fixture, things will be more confusing. If possible, your teacher may
remove the cover.
2. View the fluorescent tube through your grating.
3. Sketch what you see.
4. Rotate the grating while looking at the fluorescent tube. What do you
notice? Sketch what you see.

Spectroscope
To Notice: Fluorescent Light Source

You might notice that what you see is similar to when you viewed the
incandescent bulb, but with some differences.
You may see something different depending on how the grating was
oriented. Possibly you chose a favorite orientation, and may have seen
something like this:
red yellow green blue Fluorescent Tube blue green yellow red
Color Spectrum
With the fluorescent tube the color spectra on either side were not
continuous smears of all colors, but separate, individual stripes of just a few
colors separated by relative darkness between. The stripes, you might have
noticed, were all parallel to each other, and to the fluorescent tube itself.
You might have also noticed that the shape of each color stripe was exactly
the same shape as the fluorescent tube, as if each stripe was a separate
image of the tube. This is an important point to understand: each stripe is a
separate image of the tube, each one made of a different wavelength of light.
If you are not certain that you saw the tube’s shape in the stripes, look again.
When you rotate the grating, you may have noticed that, though all of the
stripes remain parallel to each other, their distance from each other changes.
You can even rotate the grating so that the stripes are all on top of each
other.
To Understand: Fluorescent Light Source

Think back over what you have done so far, both looking at the incandescent
bulb and the fluorescent tube. The incandescent bulb’s spectrum appeared
as a continuous smear of all colors of the rainbow, while the fluorescent
tube’s spectrum only had a few colors, separated by relatively no light.

Spectroscope
There are two reasons for the difference. One, the incandescent bulb, whose
light comes from a hot piece of dense metal (the filament), emits what is
called a continuum spectrum. That is, about every wavelength of visible
light (every color, and every shade between) is present in the bulb’s
spectrum. The Sun’s spectrum is also a continuum. The Sun is a ball of hot,
dense gas.
The fluorescent tube, however, contains a low density, relatively cool gas.
Its spectrum is called an emission spectrum. In an emission spectrum, only
certain wavelengths are emitted by the gas contained in the tube, with
wavelengths between left dark, those wavelengths not present. (Note: You
may see a faint continuum spectrum in the background, between the bright
emission lines. This spectrum is coming from a phosphorescent coating on
the inside of the tube that is excited by ultraviolet light emitted by the gas.)
Maybe you now understand what you are seeing when you look at the
fluorescent tube through the grating: the spectra on either side of the tube
are the separate images of the tube spread out in the different
wavelengths of emitted light. There is an image of the tube in blue light
only, another image in green light only, another in yellow, and so on.
The same thing is actually happening in the spectrum for the incandescent
bulb. However, since the bulb emits a continuum of light (all wavelengths
in the visible spectrum), the individual color images of the bulb overlap each
other, blending together into one long smear. The difference is illustrated
below:
The small number of colors in the

spectrum of the long, narrow
fluorescent tube
blue green yellow red
The large number of colors in the

spectrum of the wide, spherical
incandescent bulb, overlapping and
violetbluegreenyelloworangered
blending together

Spectroscope
To Do: Choosing an Aperture

1. Get a piece of opaque paper or thin cardboard and, using a scissors or
a sharp knife, cut these shapes into it:
A circular hole a centimeter in diameter
A long, narrow slot (maybe three centimeters long and three millimeters
wide)
A distinct shape of your own choice, but only a centimeter in size (for
example, a star, a moon, a cat, the number 5)
2. View the fluorescent tube through your grating and rotate the grating
so that the different color images of the tube all lay end-to-end,
overlapping so that the different colors are blended together as shown
in the bottommost part of the picture below.
Notice how much more difficult it is to see the separate, individual

colors, much as when viewing the continuum spectrum of the
incandescent bulb.
3. While still looking at the overlapping color images of the fluorescent
tube, raise in front of the tube the piece of paper or cardboard in
which you have cut the shapes. You may need to hunt around a bit by
moving the paper, but you should eventually find the tube’s spectrum
again, and depending on which shape of hole the light is coming
through, you will see the different colored images of that shape.
4. Sketch what you see for each of the shaped holes you view through.

Spectroscope
To Notice: Choosing an Aperture

You may have noticed that all of the shaped holes did a good job of
separating out the individual colors: the circular hole produced a series of
color circles, the narrow slot produced a series of color lines, and your
chosen shape produced a set of images of that shape in the different colors of
the fluorescent tube.
To Understand: Choosing an Aperture

The small number of colors in the fluorescent tube’s spectrum (usually from
five to seven colors, depending on the type of lamp)
makes it easy for shaped holes to separate the colors
present in the spectrum.
However, many light
sources contain a great
number of different
wavelengths in their spectra, and so the number of
color images produced by your mask may be far
greater than five, six, or seven. If there are too many different wavelengths
in the spectrum, the multitude of color images will overlap each other and
blend together, much as the fluorescent tube’s color images overlapped
when you rotated the grating in the “wrong” direction.
Take another look at the overlapping fluorescent tube images, and then the
same as viewed through each of the different shaped holes. Imagine looking
at a light source with not six, but sixty different wavelengths of light. Which
of the hole shapes is most likely to produce overlapped images, and which is
the least likely?
If your answer was the long, narrow
slot, you’re absolutely right! When
rotated so that the spectrum of
colored stripes are separated into a
row of lines, like a row of fence
posts, each narrow line easily shows
the different colors in the spectrum,
even when the spectrum contains a
great number of lines.
You have experimented with, and hopefully have chosen, a slit aperture as
the best way to separate out the overlapping colors in an object’s spectrum.
The word “aperture” essentially means “hole,” and a “slit” aperture is very

Spectroscope
commonly used with a diffraction grating to analyze the wavelengths of light

in a spectrum. The instrument is called a grating spectroscope, and you may
proceed to build one in Activity 2.

Spectroscope
Activity 2: Building a Spectroscope

Materials Needed
A small box (a shoebox is perfect)
Scissors
Utility knife
Tape
An aperture. A pair of straight, thin, opaque objects placed edge to edge
to form a narrow gap, or slit, between is good. Sometimes razor blades
are used, but a pair of playing cards or other thin, opaque cardboard
works well without the danger of cutting yourself.
Graph paper
Preparation
Your spectroscope will have three main functioning parts, all held together
by a box. The three parts are:
1. Slit aperture: A hole in one end of the box shaped like a long,
narrow slit.
2. Diffraction grating: The grating will work just as it did in Activity 1.
3. Scale: A piece of graph paper placed as a backdrop to one of the two
spectra the grating produces. This is for measuring the relative
positions/spacing of the different lines in the spectrum.
A shoebox with a lid is a very good choice for the body of the spectroscope.
If you do not have a shoebox, you can construct a box with cardboard and
tape. Other objects may work as well, such as mailing tubes, paper towel
tubes, hatboxes, or other boxes.

Spectroscope
Step by Step
Refer to the drawing above to complete the steps below.

1. Using a scissors or a knife, cut holes in the box where you will mount
the diffraction grating and the slit aperture. The hole for the grating
should not be larger than the grating; when you attach the grating, it
should cover the hole completely.
2. Cut a flap in the box’s lid over where you will place the scale grid.
This will allow you to open a “skylight” in the box to illuminate the
scale grid—with ambient room light or a flashlight—for easy reading.
3. Construct a slit aperture by taping two pieces of thin, opaque card
stock to the box, covering the hole you cut. The two cards should be
placed edge-to-edge, parallel to each other, and very close together—
no more than about 2 mm apart. Note: The slit’s long dimension
should be oriented vertically, from top to bottom of the box.
4. Tape the diffraction grating over the hole you cut for it. Note: Before
you tape, make sure that your grating is rotated correctly. When you

Spectroscope
look through the grating at a light source, the two spectra should be to
the left and to the right of the vertical slit aperture.
5. Cut out a strip of graph paper (quarter-inch division graph paper will
be fine) 3 cm high and about 10 cm long (depending on the size and
shape of your box). Cut along the graph paper lines so that the lines
are parallel to the cuts.
6. Number the graph paper scale, from left to right, starting with zero.
The numbered graph paper strip should look something like this:
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
7. Cut out a piece of cardboard or stiff card stock about the same size as
the graph paper strip.
8. Tape (or glue) the graph paper strip to the cardboard strip.
9. Tape the graph paper scale into the box with its longer dimension
horizontal to the box’s bottom. You will want to slant the scale, as
shown in the drawing, so that when you look at it through the
diffraction grating hole, you see it face on, not slanted. Note: Before
you tape the scale into position, look at a light source through your
nearly completed spectroscope. The graph paper scale should fall
behind (as a backdrop) one of the two spectra created by the
diffraction grating.

Spectroscope
When all is done, what you should see when you look into the diffraction
grating and point the slit aperture at a fluorescent lamp is something like
this:

Spectroscope
Activity 3: Observe
If you choose to observe sunlight with your spectroscope, first repeat the
following sentence one thousand times:
I will not look directly at the Sun…
your spectroscope. The Sun’s light is very bright, and can damage your
eyes. If you want to look at the spectrum of sunlight, try looking at a piece
of white paper onto which the Sun is shining. The result is not as bright,
but the spectrum is the same.
Step by Step
Observing List
Fluorescent lamp
Incandescent lamp
Red LED (light emitting diode)
Green LED
Yellow LED
A white area on a television screen
Yellow neon sign
Red neon sign
Green neon sign
Light source of your own choice
1. Choose a light source from the observing list above.

2. Look at the light source through your spectroscope, pointing the slit
aperture at the light source and hunting around until you see its
spectrum over the graph paper scale (you may need to sweep your
spectroscope from side to side to find the spectrum).
3. Record the spectrum you see using the data collection sheet. On the
data collection sheet you will sketch the spectrum and record the

Spectroscope
numeric scale positions of each spectral line (or each transition

between different colors, for a continuum spectrum).
If a spectral line falls between two numbers on the scale, estimate the
fraction of the distance between the integer numbers on the scale. For
example, if the line is about halfway between 3 and 4, record a
spectral position of 3.5. If it is three quarters of the way between
them, record 3.75.
Note: if the spectrum you see is a continuum, record the positions
between the distinct color bands. For example, for the blue band in a
continuum spectrum, record the position where “blue begins” and also
where “blue ends” (where blue ends, by the way, should also be where
green begins).
4. For each data log sheet on which you record a spectrum, be sure to
include the date, your name (observer), and the light source being
observed.
5. Repeat the observing process for different light sources (try to observe
as many of the light sources on the observing list as possible). Use a
new data log sheet for each source you observe.

Spectroscope
Data Sheet
Record a spectrum by drawing what you see on your spectroscope scale in
the scale graph and by recording the line and band information in the
columns at the bottom of the table.
Date Time Observer Object
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21
Is the light source a:

Continuum spectrum?
Emission spectrum?
A combination of continuum and emission spectra?
Line Color * Scale Position Brightness **
* If this is a continuum spectrum, then indicate each band of color by writing “Blue Band” or “Red
Band” or “Yellow Band,” etc. In the Scale Position column, record both the beginning and end
positions of that color band (for example, writing “2.5 to 4.1” would show the beginning (2.5) and end
(4.1) positions for the given color band.
** Record the line or band brightness qualitatively. For example, “faint” or “bright” or “medium.”

Spectroscope
Activity 4: Classify the Spectra

At this point you have become familiar with a diffraction grating,
constructed a spectroscope, observed light sources with the spectroscope,
and recorded spectra. In this activity, you will summarize your observations
by classifying and comparing your spectra.
Step by Step
1. Collect all of your data log sheets and staple them together.
2. Number each page with a unique number (1, 2, 3, …); you will refer
to your spectra by these numbers.
3. Using the table below, list each of your spectra and classify them:
Number of
Brightest Lines (if an
Spectrum Type of Color (line emission
Number Light Source Spectrum * or band) spectrum)
* Continuum, Emission, Combination

Examine your spectra carefully. Can you find any emission lines that are at
the same scale position as those in another spectrum? If so, record your
findings below:

Spectroscope
Lessons Learned/Questions/New Ideas:

1. As you think back on the activity, what are some things that you
understand now that you did not know before? What are some questions
you have?
3. Can you find a way to use your spectroscope to investigate one of your
questions?

Spectroscope
Identify Gases With Your Spectroscope
Materials Needed
A gas emission lamp with tubes of various gases (such as hydrogen,
helium, sodium, calcium, iron, etc.)
Your spectroscope
Pictures of sample spectra
On the next page are several spectra of some common gases as they would
be seen through a slit-aperture spectroscope such as the one you built.
Spectroscope
Sample Spectra
red orange yellow green blue indigo violet
Hydrogen
Helium
Calcium
Sodium
Iron
Neon
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Sulfur
Spectroscope
Step by Step
1. Your teacher will select an emission tube containing an unknown gas.
2. Observe the tube with your spectroscope and try to identify the type of
gas. Note: Your teacher may have chosen a gas whose spectrum is
not included in the color spectrum sheet.
3. Draw the spectrum that you observe using appropriate colors and
spacing.
4. Try to identify the spectrum from the given list of color spectra or
state if you think it is not present.
5. Record the actual gas in the column provided when you go over the
list as a class.
Tube # Draw the Spectrum Prediction Actual
Questions:
1. How many of your predictions were correct? Give a brief explanation
for why you got some, a few, or none.
2. What is the difference between emission spectra and absorption

spectra?
3. How is this technology used to identify the composition of stars?
Spectroscope

Brief Introduction to Electromagnetic Waves
Light is a wave phenomenon: a repeating fluctuation that travels through
space. Light waves are similar to sound waves, waves on water, or waves of
vibration on a guitar string. However, where sound waves are repeating
fluctuations in air (or liquid, or solid objects), light waves are fluctuating,
oscillating electric and magnetic fields, which is why light is called an
electromagnetic wave.
Two properties that we can identify and measure in all waves are amplitude
and wavelength. The amplitude of a wave is a measure of its strength. For
waves of water on the ocean, amplitude can be thought of as the height of a
wave measured from the deepest point of a trough (the lowest water level,
between wave crests) to a neighboring wave crest. The wavelength of an
ocean wave is the distance measured horizontally from one wave crest to the
next wave crest in a series of waves.
Amplitude
Wavelength
The amplitude of a light wave is a measure of the amount of energy in that

wave. The wavelength is the linear distance between one wave and a
subsequent wave.
Spectroscope
Just as a wave on water may have any of a wide range of wavelengths and
amplitudes, so do light waves. The entire range of possible wavelengths of
light, from miles to lengths smaller than the nucleus of an atom, is
collectively called the electromagnetic (EM) spectrum. The portion of the
EM spectrum that the human eye is sensitive to is a relatively small portion,
ranging from 400 to 700 nanometers, and is called the visible spectrum. The
allocation of the visible spectrum, along with the neighboring invisible
bands called the ultraviolet and the infrared bands, is shown in the drawing
below, along with the corresponding wavelengths, in nanometers.
Visible Band
v y o
g e r
i b r
r l a
ultraviolet o l e infrared
e l n
l u d
e o g
e e n w e
t
300 400 500 600 700 800
Wavelength (nanometers)
It is important to note that what the human eye perceives as a specific color
– red, for example – is actually a band of different, neighboring
wavelengths. Simply seeing the color red with the eye does not identify the
light’s exact wavelength, just the range that the color belongs to. A
spectroscope, however, can enable us to sort out and identify every
wavelength, individually.
What is a Spectroscope?
When light enters your eyes, all of the different wavelengths it contains are
mixed together. Your eye and brain interpret the mix of wavelengths as a
single color. This is why, even though there is a very small number of
“basic” colors, we can identify millions of different shades, most of which
are blends of many different wavelengths. A spectroscope is a device that
separates light into the different wavelengths it contains.
Spectroscope
What is it used for?

Spectroscopes are used for a number of purposes, but in all cases the
information sought is the same: the brightness of each individual
wavelength of light coming from a source.
The wavelength composition of light can reveal some important things about
the light’s source, such as what atoms or molecules are present in the light
source. The technique of spectroscopy can therefore reveal what distant
objects, such as stars, are made of.
An atom is made up of electrically charged particles: a positively charged
nucleus and negatively charged electrons that orbit the nucleus, bound to it
by the attractive electric force between opposite charges.
In the absence of an outside influence, an electron will orbit an atom’s
nucleus in a stable, unchanging orbit. An outside force (such as a collision
with another atom or a photon of light) can give an electron enough energy
to “jump” to a higher orbit. The electron may remain in this higher orbit for
a time, but will eventually fall back to its lower, “ground state” orbit, in the
process releasing energy in the form of a pulse of light: a photon. The
wavelength of the photon is determined by the amount of energy released,
which in turn is determined by the energy difference between the two
different orbits.
Electrons orbit their atoms at specific discrete levels, and cannot orbit at
levels between. This phenomenon is called quantization. An electron in a
given orbit possesses an amount of energy specific to that orbit. The amount
of energy in a given orbit, and thus the difference in energy between two
given orbits, is also specific to the particular atom, or molecule.
This means that the discrete wavelengths emitted are unique to each atom or
molecule, just as a human being’s fingerprints or DNA are unique to an
individual human being. A spectroscope can reveal all of the different
wavelengths present in a given source of light, and so from the spectral data
it is possible for us to identify the substance(s) that emitted the light.
What data does it gather?

A spectroscope reveals the brightnesses of the different wavelengths of
photons present in a light source. A slit spectroscope collects light through a
long, narrow slit. When this beam of light is divided and spread out into its
different wavelengths, the image formed on the surface the light falls on (a
projection screen, photographic film, a CCD chip, an eyeball, etc.) is a row
of long, narrow lines, each a different wavelength. The shape of the slit
Spectroscope
aperture forms the shape of these lines. The brightness of a particular line
reveals the brightness of that particular wavelength. The lines are arranged,
side-by-side, in the order of their wavelengths. This image is called a
spectrum.
What is the optical phenomenon that a Spectroscope

employs?
There are two basic different types of spectroscopes: refractive and
diffractive. Refractive spectroscopes employ the optical phenomenon of
refraction to divide light into its different wavelengths, while diffractive
spectroscopes use the phenomenon of diffraction.
Refraction
In different transparent substances light can travel at different speeds1. For
example, light travels more slowly through water than through air. If the
light wave passes between the two substances at an angle that is not straight
on, its direction of travel is changed. This changing of the light’s path is
called refraction. The amount of bending depends on several things,
including the types of substances the light is passing between, the angle at
which the light strikes the interface between the substances, and the
wavelength of the light.
The effect of wavelength on the amount of refraction is what is important in
spectroscopy. The shorter the wavelength, the more the light is refracted.
Blue light is bent by refraction more than red light, since blue light has a
shorter wavelength.
You can see the effects of refraction in the world around you. Rainbows are
formed when raindrops or cloud droplets refract sunlight. Sunlight passing
from air into the droplet of water is refracted, and a small amount of this is
reflected off of the inside surface of the raindrop. The reflected light is
refracted a second time when it passes out of the droplet and back into air.
This refracted light, coming from billions of raindrops filling a volume of
sky, forms the image of the rainbow.
If you look closely, you can often see glints of different colors as light
travels through various transparent objects, such as crystal, water or glass.
1
The speed of light traveling through a vacuum is constant, but light
traveling through transparent substances is slower and depends on the
substance’s density and chemical composition.
Spectroscope
A refractive spectroscope uses a prism to split light. A prism is a wedge of

glass or crystal with flat surfaces. Light is directed through the prism,
refracts, and emerges from the prism with the different wavelengths
traveling in different directions.
Diffraction
Diffraction is the phenomenon that occurs when waves travel past solid
objects, such as when waves traveling on the ocean pass by an island or
through an inlet. Instead of moving on in the same direction, the waves are
partially bent towards the object, tending to fan out to fill the area behind.
Sound waves passing through fluid diffract around solid objects. This is
why you can hear a noise around a corner or from behind something: the
sound waves diffract, or bend, around the object and arrive at our ears after
following a curving path.
Light is a wave of electromagnetism. Like any wave it experiences
diffraction when passing near a solid object. Only the light passing very
near the solid object—on the order of distance of the wavelength of the light
itself—is diffracted; light waves passing farther away continue to travel
undisturbed. So, if you consider a single solid object as the diffractor, only a
very small percentage of light passing by is actually deviated.
However, if we consider a surface perforated with many holes, or cut with
many slits or grooves, the situation is different. If the holes or the slits in
this surface are small then much of the light that passes through them will
pass very close to the solid material and will be diffracted.
The wavelength of light determines by what degree it is diffracted. Longer
wavelengths are bent (diffracted) more than shorter wavelengths, so red light
is more strongly diffracted than blue.
A readily available example of a surface filled with many very tiny holes is a
compact disk, a CD. A CD stores music or computer data digitally in the
form of many very tiny holes in a silvery (usually aluminum) surface. Look
at a light source reflected from the CD’s surface and you will see the
different colors of light spread out there.
A surface with many slits or grooves etched on it also serves very well to
diffract the light passing through or reflecting off of it, as long as the slit
widths are small. A very common and inexpensive material for diffracting
light is a “diffraction grating,” a piece of glass or plastic with thousands of
narrow, regularly spaced grooves etched on its surface.
Spectroscope
See the world in
a new light

California.
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
Colorgraphs
Nuts and Bolts
Learn about color filter bandpass curves.
Measure the bandpass of various filters.
Graph the bandpass of various filters.
Create your own color filter and predict its bandpass curve by analyzing
and combining the data from two or more component filters.
Key Concepts
Most sources of light that we see are made up of many different
wavelengths (colors) of light.
What the human eye and brain perceive as a color (for example, “red”) is
usually a range, or band, of different wavelengths of light.
The human eye and brain blend together different colors of light. What
we perceive is the blended result, not necessarily the individual colors
present.
Color filters are pieces of material (plastic, glass) that are transparent to
some wavelengths of light and opaque or nearly opaque at other
wavelengths.
Color filters can be used to selectively block out certain colors of light
and so emphasize a desired color.
A color filter can be characterized by a graph of the amount (percentage)
of each color that is transmitted versus color of light. The curve
produced on this type of graph is called a bandpass curve.
Materials Needed (per working group)

Two or more color filters, of your choice
An incandescent light source (a light bulb)
A copy of the Color Filter Bandpass Data Sheet
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
Introduction
Description
Filter imaging is the method of capturing photographic images through color
filters. The color filters are used to block off unwanted wavelengths of light
to allow only desired colors of light into the imaging device (camera,
eyeball).
In this activity you will explore the properties of color filters, and learn
about filter bandpass.
The bandpass of a color filter describes how much of each color of light can
pass through the filter in question. It’s not enough to say that half (50%) of
the light striking a filter passes through. The percentage of light that can
pass through the filter at every possible wavelength in the spectrum must be
known.
A graph is a great way to express filter bandpass. A graph of percent
transmission versus wavelength will characterize the bandpass of the filter
with a curve, which is why this type of graph is called a filter’s bandpass
curve. (Percent transmission for a given wavelength of light is the percent
of the light that passes through—or is transmitted—the filter.)
Bandpass Curve Example

Above is a sample bandpass curve that describes a color filter that transmits
less than 10% of violet light that strikes it, over 80% of the blue light, less
than 60% of the green light, etc. This filter allows more blue light than any
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
other color to pass through it. It also transmits 0% of red light, so no red
light should be visible through this filter.
Solar-B Connection
Solar-B will use sophisticated color filters to
create images of the Sun from light of very
specific wavelength. In this way Solar-B will
produce images from light emitted by specific
chemical elements, allowing astronomers to
determine the distribution and temperature of
those materials.
The bandpass of filter systems on Solar-B will be very accurately controlled,
allowing astronomers to select the exact wavelength or band of wavelengths
they want.
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
Activity 1: Determine the Bandpass Curve of a

Filter
Step by Step
1. Choose a filter that you like. Suggestion: Choose a “dark” filter –
that is, a filter that substantially blocks light like a pair of sunglasses
does.
2. Hold a diffraction grating up to an incandescent light source and look
at the rainbow of colors in its spectrum. The grating splits up and
sorts out the different colors contained in the light. You should see all
of the colors of the visible spectrum in a continuous smear.
3. Still looking through the diffraction grating, hold the filter up to your
eye and look again at the incandescent light’s color spectrum (you
should be looking through both the grating and the color filter).
4. For each color (violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red), compare
that color’s brightness as seen through the filter to its brightness
without the filter. Rate the relative brightness on a scale of 0% to
100%, where 0% means that no light of that color passes through the
filter and a rating of 100% means that all of that color passes through
the filter. For example, if a color looks about half as bright through
the filter than it does without the filter, give it a rating of 50%. Use
the data sheet on the next page to record and graph these numbers.
5. On the graph provided on the data sheet, plot each number you
measure.
6. Connect the data points you have drawn on the graph.
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
Color Filter Bandpass Data Sheet
Filter Color:
Filter Name/Number:
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50% Graph
40% Area
30%
20%
10%
0%
violet blue green yellow orange red
Data
Logging
Area
You are provided with several rows in the Data Logging Area above so that
you may record the bandpass of more than one color filter on this sheet. In
activities where you do record more than one filter, make sure that their
graphs are easily distinguished from each other (user different symbols for
the plotted points of each curve and label each row in the Data Logging Area
with the appropriate plot symbol.
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
Activity 2: Design Your Own Color Filter

In this activity, you will design your own color filter. You will select and
test two or more component filters, record their spectral bandpass curves,
and from that data you will try to predict what the spectral bandpass curves
of the combined filters will be.
Step By Step
1. Choose 2 or more different color filters.
2. Perform Activity 1: Determine the Bandpass Curve of a Filter for each
of the filters you have chosen. You will graph the bandpass for each
filter. You should use one data sheet to record data for all of the
filters, using different colored pens or different symbols for each set
of filter data so that you can tell the data points and plotted curves
apart. Make sure to include a legend that shows which symbol/color
on the graph corresponds to which filter.
3. Next, multiply the filter curves. That is, for each color, multiply
together the percentage transmissions you obtained for each filter.
Write down the resulting number for each color of light. Note:
Remember that when multiplying percentages, the percentages must
be expressed as a decimal number between 0 and 1 (for example, 50%
= 0.5, 100% = 1.0, etc.). Afterward, convert the results back to
percentage form. For example, 30% x 40% = 0.3 x 0.4 = 0.12 = 12%.
4. Plot on the graph the new percentages you have calculated. You may
plot them on the same graph as the original data points, or on a new
copy of the graph form. This new curve is your predicted bandpass
curve for the combined filters.
5. Next, put your chosen filters together and once again perform Activity
1: Determine the Bandpass Curve of a Filter, but on the combined
filters (looking through all of the filters).
6. Compare the filter bandpass curve you obtained through observation
in Step 5 to the predicted bandpass curve you calculated and plotted in
Steps 3 and 4. How closely does the prediction match the
observation? What do you think might account for any differences?
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
What Have You Done?

The data you gathered through observation is the percentage of light of
different colors that the filter transmits. The rest of the light—that which
was not allowed to pass through the filter—was absorbed by the filter.
If one filter transmits only half (50%) of the blue light striking it, and a
second filter also passes half of the blue light, then the two filters together
transmit only one quarter of the blue light. The first filter passes half of the
blue light, then the second filter passes half of the remaining light, and half
of a half is a quarter.
Putting it mathematically, that’s 50% x 50% = 0.5 x 0.5 = 0.25 = 25%.
Using a more realistic example, if you rated the red-pass of your first filter to
be 70% and the red-pass of your second filter to be 30%, then the combined
red-pass of the two filters is:
70% x 30% = 0.7 x 0.3 = 0.21 = 21%
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS

1. As you think back on this activity, what was most surprising?
2. What are three things you learned that you did not know before?
3. What are three questions you have?
4. Optional: Design an experiment to test one of your questions that
uses your new understandings of filters and how they work.
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS

Color Filters
A color filter is a transparent material that allows some wavelengths of light
to pass through it while blocking some or all light of other wavelengths.
Colored gemstones, stained glass, blue-blocker sunglasses, and Coca-Cola
bottles all possess the characteristic of color filtering.
Color filters are characterized by which wavelengths they allow to pass
through, or transmit. You can say that a “blue filter” transmits “blue” light,
but there is actually a range of wavelengths of light that our human eyes
perceive as blue. So the question becomes, for a given blue filter, which
“blue” wavelengths are transmitted and which, if any, are not?
The spectrum of visible light is shown below.
Visible Band of Electromagnetic Spectrum

Each color that is distinguished by our eyes is actually a range, or band, of
many different wavelengths. It is useful to refer to the “red” band as all
wavelengths that our eyes perceive as red. You can refer to the “visible
band” as all wavelengths that our eyes can detect (the visible spectrum).
Bandpass
What ranges of wavelengths a given filter transmits—in other words, what
band it allows to pass—is called that filter’s bandpass. Color filters that
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
transmit only a very small range of wavelengths are called narrowband

filters, while those that transmit a relatively large range are called
broadband filters. The color filters that you will use are very likely
broadband filters, as narrowband filters tend to be more expensive.
Bandpass Curves
The bandpass characteristic of a given color filter is usually presented in the
form of a graph of percent transmission versus wavelength. The percent
transmission is the percent of the total light entering the filter that actually
passes out the other side (is transmitted).
Color Filter Imaging

Color filtering has been performed since the invention of photography. A
color filter imager is simply a camera with a color filter attached to the lens.
Color filter imaging was, and still is, practiced in astronomy with black and
white film photography and CCD imagery. Light from a celestial object is
sent through a color filter and the image is recorded on the black and white
medium (film or CCD). A series of similar black and white (or “gray scale”)
images are recorded, each taken through a different color filter, and the
relative brightnesses of the images are compared. The brightest recorded
image then corresponds to the predominant color of light coming from the
celestial object. The reason that this method is still used is that gray scale
image recording systems tend to be more sensitive to faint light sources than
do color recording systems, and most celestial objects of interest are very
faint.
The usual reason for using color filters when creating an image (a
photograph, for example) is to emphasize certain colors in the photographic
subject by reducing or eliminating other colors.
Astronomers use color filtering for a number of reasons:
The hottest stars emit more light in the blue end of the visible spectrum
than in other wavelengths, while the coolest stars emit more red light
than other colors. By comparing the brightnesses of stars at different
colors, the temperature of the star can be measured.
By blocking wavelengths of light that typically come from our
atmosphere (for example, city light reflecting back from the sky), clearer
images of stars and other celestial objects can be taken.
Colorgraphs
SOLAR-B COLORGRAPHS
By using a filter that transmits light characteristic to a particular

substance, the amount and distribution of that substance can be appraised.
Making Your Own Filter

Two or more color filters can be combined to produce a customized filter
with its own bandpass characteristics. For example, if one filter blocks red,
yellow, and orange, and another filter blocks yellow and green, then putting
them together will produce a filter that blocks all of those colors, allowing
only blue and violet to pass. Adding a third filter that blocks violet will
produce a “blue” filter, one that is transparent to blue light and opaque or
nearly opaque to all other colors.
Colorgraphs
Do NOT use
this device
to measure a polar bear!

California.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Polarimeter
Nuts and Bolts
Use a polarizing filter to build and calibrate a simple polarimeter.
Use your polarimeter to find sources of polarized light.
Measure the angle of polarization of polarized light sources and attempt
to measure the strength of polarization.
Key Concepts
Light is a wave of electromagnetism.
Polarization is a property of light, just as wavelength (color) and
amplitude (brightness) are properties of light.
The electric field of a light wave oscillates back and forth in space within
a geometric plane.
The directional property of the alignment of a light wave’s electric field
is called polarization.
A given source of light typically emits a great number of photons, each of
which may be polarized in any given direction.
A source of light that contains more light waves that are polarized in a
specific direction than in any other is called a polarized light source.
Light can become polarized for several reasons, including reflection from
a surface, scattering in a gas or transparent solid, stimulated emission
(such as in a laser), or by the presence of a strong magnetic field at the
light’s source.
A polarizing filter is a material that allows light waves polarized in a
certain direction to pass, but not light waves polarized in other directions.
A polarizing filter can be used to determine how much and in what
direction a given light source is polarized.
Materials Needed
Polarizing filters
A cardboard tube (toilet paper tube is excellent)
A flat piece of cardboard
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Scissors/knife
Tape
Protractor
Marking pen
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Introduction
Description
Polarization is a property of light waves, just as wavelength (color) and
amplitude (strength) are properties of light. Color and brightness are
properties of light that we are all familiar with. Polarization is a property of
light that is not as well known, though you may have encountered its effects
before without realizing it.
If you have every looked through a pair of Polaroid sunglasses and rotated
them while looking at the sky, you have not only experienced the effects of
polarization, but have also made a polarimetric measurement!
Light waves (more specifically, the electric and magnetic fields that are
light) oscillate back-and-forth as they move, not unlike how a wave on the
ocean moves up and down as it travels horizontally across the surface.
The back-and-forth motion takes place within a geometric plane. This plane
is called the plane of polarization. The plane of polarization is always
parallel to the direction of travel of a light wave.
A polarimeter uses a polarizing filter to measure the direction of the plane of
polarization of light.
The polarizing filter is a transparent material that contains many long, string-
like molecules that have all been stretched and aligned in the same direction.
Depending on the direction of a light wave’s plane of polarization as it
passes through a polarizing filter, it can pass through the filter easily, with
difficulty, or not at all.
A polarizing filter’s axis of polarization is the direction in which a light
wave’s plane of polarization must be oriented in order for it to pass through
the filter with the greatest ease.
When you look through a polarizing filter, only the light whose planes of
polarization are aligned with the filter’s axis of polarization pass through and
reach your eye. If you know the direction of the filter’s axis of polarization,
then know the direction of polarization of the light that you see through the
filter: they are the same direction.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Solar-B Connection
Strong magnetic fields on and near the surface
of the Sun cause polarization in light emitted
by atoms on the Sun’s visible surface (its
photosphere) and in its atmosphere
(chromosphere, transition region, corona).
Observations of the Sun with a polarimeter can
reveal the strength and structure of magnetic
fields emanating from beneath the Sun’s surface and permeating the various
levels of the solar atmosphere. Such observations are one of Solar B’s
primary goals for studying the life cycles of solar magnetic fields.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Activity 1: Polarizer Play

For this activity, you will need 2 polarizing filters.
Step by Step
1. Hold a polarizing filter 1 or 2 feet from your
face and look through it. What do you
notice?
You may notice that the polarizing filter
appears slightly dark. This is because some
of the light passing through the filter has
been blocked, like through sunglasses or
tinted glass.
2. Still holding the first polarizing filter a foot
or two from your face, place a second
polarizing filter in front of your eye so that
now you are looking through both filters at
the same time. What do you notice?
You may notice that when looking through
both filters things appear even darker. So
far things make sense.
3. Now, rotate the second polarizing filter (the one in front of you eye) in
one direction or the other. What do you notice now?
You should see that by rotating one of the filters, the degree of
darkness seen through both changes. You can change the amount of
light filtered by both polarizing filters from light to completely dark.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
What is Happening?
Like sunglasses, tinted glass, or color filters, polarizing filters block off
some of the light passing through them. With “gray” tinted glass or
sunglasses, some of the light of every color is being blocked. With color
filters, certain colors of light are being blocked (sometimes completely)
while other colors are allowed to pass.
A polarizing filter allows light polarized in certain directions to pass, and
blocks light polarized in other directions. The direction of polarization of a
particular light wave is the direction that the light’s electric field “vibrates”
back and forth.
To visualize how this works, think of a comb and a strip of ribbon. The
ribbon can be pulled between the teeth of the comb easily if its wide
direction is parallel to the comb’s teeth. The ribbon, however, cannot be
pulled through the comb if its wide direction is perpendicular to the teeth.
Think of a polarizing filter as a sort of comb for light waves, with rows and
rows of parallel teeth. The direction that these “comb teeth” are oriented is
called the filter’s axis of polarization. The direction that light’s electric field
vibrates, or wiggles, back and forth in would be the wide direction of the
ribbon.
What is happening in the activity you just did is this. Without any polarizing
filters, the light shining into your eye is made of many, many light waves
whose directions of polarization are pointing in every direction. When you
place one polarizing filter before your eye, the light whose polarization is
perpendicular to the filter’s axis of polarization are blocked, while those
parallel to it pass through. Things look a bit darker through one filter
because some of the light has been blocked.
The light reaching your eye after passing through the filter are all polarized
in the same direction (more or less), so when you place a second polarizing
filter in the path of the light, the filtering becomes much more drastic. When
the second filter’s axis of polarization is parallel to the light’s polarization,
most of the light gets through. When the filter is rotated 90 degrees so that
its axis of polarization is perpendicular to the light’s polarization, all of the
light is blocked.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Activity 2: Build a Polarimeter

Overview
A polarimeter is an instrument for measuring the direction and strength of
the polarization of light. The direction of polarization of light is the
rotational direction, perpendicular to the direction the light is traveling
through space, that the majority of light waves are oriented. The strength of
polarization is how much (what percentage) of the light is oriented in the
direction of polarization.
Simple Polarimeter
Here is a drawing of a simple polarimeter that you can build. If you have a
better design in mind, follow your design, by all means!
A cardboard toilet paper tube is used to hold the polarizing filter at one end.
The other end of the tube is inserted into a hole cut from a cardboard square,
which is marked with lines indicating angular units (the lines radiating from
the central hole). A line drawn on the tube indicates the direction of the axis
of polarization of the filter.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Step by Step
Part 1
1. Cut a toilet paper tube to a length of about 5 centimeters.
2. Use the end of the tube to trace a circle on the polarizing filter.
3. Cut out the circle of filter.
4. Tape the circle of filter material to one end of the toilet paper tube.
Be careful not to cover up much of the filter’s surface. You must be
able to look through the filter without looking through any tape.
5. Find a shiny surface (like a piece of glass) and a light source (an
incandescent bulb, sunlight, a fluorescent tube).
6. Set the glass down on a flat, horizontal surface (like the floor or a
tabletop).
7. Position yourself so that you can see the light source reflected from
the surface.
8. Place the toilet paper tube with its polarizing filter to your eye and
look at the reflected light through it.
9. Rotate the filter. As you rotate the filter, you should see the reflected
light grow brighter and fainter.
10. Rotate the filter until the reflected light is faintest.
11. Still holding the filter so that the reflected light is faintest, use a
marking pen to mark the toilet paper tube at the exact top and bottom
of the filter.
12. For each of the two marks you made, draw a straight line (using a
ruler) down the side of the toilet paper tube starting from the mark.
The line should run straight down the side of the tube, not wind
around it.
Part 2
13. Using a drawing compass, draw a circle on a piece of cardboard. The
circle should be about 10 centimeters in diameter. Make sure to mark
the center of the circle, where the compass’ point was stuck.
14. Cut out the circle (keeping the circle, not the border).
15. Place a protractor on the disk so that the protractor’s center point is at
the center of the cardboard circle. Along the protractor’s scale, mark
off a point every 10 degrees, from 0 to 180 degrees, on half of the
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
circle. Make sure your marks are easy to see, and labeled (0, 10,
20…180).
16. Using a ruler, carefully draw lines through each angle mark and the
disk’s center, so that all of the lines intersect at that center.
17. Label the angular units along half of the circle, from 0 to 180 degrees.
18. Mark the zero degree direction with the word “up.” This will be the
direction on the dial that you hold pointing up when you make
measurements later on.
Part 3
19. Again using the toilet paper tube, trace a circle on the cardboard disk.
This circle’s center should be at the disk’s center.
20. Cut out the smaller circle from the center of the disk, discarding the
smaller circle and keeping the larger disk.
21. Insert the toilet paper tube into the small hole you have cut. The tube
should fit snuggly enough in the cut hole so that it won’t fall out, but
you should also be able to rotate the tube in the hole.
You are finished!
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Activity 3: Observe
Repeat the following sentence one thousand times:
your polarimeter. Though the Sun is a source of light, it is very bright and
can damage your eyes, possibly permanently. Light from the Sun does
possess the property of being somewhat polarized, but you will not be able
to detect that polarization with your polarimeter; it is too weakly polarized.
Leave that sort of measurement to a spacecraft like Solar-B….
There are at least two things that you need to record to make a useful
observation. One is the polarization angle (or direction of polarization) of
the light from a given source. The other is the strength of polarization of the
light—that is, how much of the light in the beam is polarized.
Note that in many cases, you will view a scene through your polarimeter that
contains several different sources of light (for example, the scene may
include a lamp bulb, the lamp itself, and the background scenery), all of
which may have different degrees of polarization. Though you should view
and draw the whole scene for context, you should select specific, singular
sources of light as your subject of observation. So, if you view the blue sky
and it also contains the Moon and some clouds, your subject of measurement
should be the blue sky only.
Step by Step
1. Select a source of light to observe (this could be a source of emitted
light, like a light bulb, a neon sign, swamp gas, or a television screen,
or it could be a source of reflected light, like a window, a mirror, the
blue sky, or a cloud).
2. Sketch a picture of the object/light you are observing. This picture
should not only include the source of light you are interested in, but
the surrounding objects in the scene. This will help you figure out the
orientation of the light source with respect to your polarimeter, later
on.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
3. Hold your polarimeter up to the light source and make sure that the
mark for zero degrees (which you labeled “up”) is pointing up, at the
top of the dial.
4. View the light source through the polarimeter.
5. Rotate the filter (by rotating the toilet paper tube) to see if the
brightness of the light source changes. Rotate the filter fully around
before you decide whether or not you see any changes in brightness.
Make sure that the part of the dial marked “up” remains pointing up.
6. If you do not see a change in brightness, you may conclude that the
light source is not polarized. Record this fact on your data sheet by
writing “unpolarized light.”
7. If you do see a change in brightness, rotate the tube until the light
source is at its brightest. You may need to turn the filter back and
forth a few times to figure out exactly what filter position gives the
most brightness.
8. Read the angle on the dial where the line on the toilet paper tube
points. This is the angle of polarization, 0 (and 180) degrees being
vertical polarization and 90 degrees being horizontal polarization
(assuming the “up” mark on your dial is pointing up). Record the
angle under the “Maximum Angle” column.
9. Next, turn the filter tube until the polarized light source appears
faintest. Record this angle as the “Minimum Angle.”
10. Using a scale of 0 to 10, rate the brightness of the light when the filter
is rotated to make it faintest. A “0” means you see none of the
polarized light through the filter and a “10” means you see all of it
(that is, its just as bright as when the filter is rotated to the brightest
position—so a rating of “10” really means that the light source is not
polarized). Record this number under the “Brightness at Min.”
column.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Data Log Sheet

Date Time Observer Object/Source
Drawing of Object Maximum Minimum Brightness %

Angle Angle at Min. * Polarization



* This is the Brightness at Minimum compared to the Brightness at Maximum, expressed on a

scale of 0 to 10, where 0 means that none of the polarized light is getting through the filter and a
10 means that all of it does.
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
Activity 4: Analyze the Data

The reason for recording this brightness at minimum value is to try to
measure the light source’s percentage of polarization. This is a measure of
how much of the light from the source is polarized in the direction of
polarization. The percentage of polarization for a light source such as a laser
beam is practically 100%, as just about all of the laser light is polarized in
the same direction. Unpolarized light has 0% polarization. Most polarized
light sources in nature fall somewhere between these two extremes.
To calculate percent polarization, use the brightness at minimum compared
to brightness at maximum. Simply divide the Brightness at Minimum by the
maximum value of the scale you are using (in this case, 10). Multiply the
result by 100 to get a percent. For example, if you rated the minimum
brightness of the polarized light of a source with a 4, then the percent
polarization is:
(4 / 10) * 100 = 40%
Enter your results on the data log sheet under “% Polarization.”
Based on your observations, make three lists below: 1) Sources of strongly
polarized light (greater than 50% polarized), 2) Sources of weakly polarized
light (equal to or less than 50% polarized), and 3) Unpolarized sources.
Strongly Polarized Weakly Polarized Unpolarized
(> 50%) (≤ 50%) (0 %)
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER

data from a simple polarimeter, write down all of the things that you would
do differently (if anything) if you were to build another.
1. What would you do to improve the design of your polarimeter (its
size, dimensions, measurement surface)?
2. What would you do to improve the construction of your polarimeter
(the materials used, the methods of attaching everything together)?
3. What would you do to improve the way in which you use the
polarimeter to collect data from the Sun?
6. What new understandings/ideas do you have as a result of building a
polarimeter, collecting and analyzing data?
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER

What is Polarized Light?
Polarization is a property of light waves, just as wavelength (color) and
amplitude (strength) are properties of light. Color and brightness are
properties of light that we are all familiar with. Polarization is a property of
light that is not as well known.
A single photon of light is a wave of electromagnetism: an electric and
magnetic field oscillating side-to-side with respect to the direction of travel
of the photon. Analogously, in a wave of water on the ocean the water is
physically moving up and down, but the energy of the wave propagates
horizontally along the ocean’s surface.
For a photon (an electromagnetic wave) the plane in which that the electric
field oscillates is called the plane of polarization, or the direction of
polarization, of the photon. The electric field oscillates back and forth
within that plane, perpendicular to the direction that the photon is traveling
through space.
Most of the sources of light in nature emit “unpolarized” light. What this
means is that for the trillions of photons emitted by the source, the direction
of polarization of each individual photon is random: there are just as many
photons whose electric fields oscillate in one direction as there are in any
other.
Some sources of light are “polarized” to some degree. That is, there is a
certain direction in which a majority of the photons’ planes of polarization
are aligned.
There are a number of reasons why light becomes polarized, both in nature
and in the realm of human technology. Light reflecting from a shiny
surface, such as glass or water, tends to be polarized. Light from the sky
(sunlight scattered by air molecules in Earth’s atmosphere) is somewhat
polarized—more strongly when coming from certain directions. Laser light
is very highly polarized: most of the photon’s electric fields in a laser beam
are aligned in a common direction.
Strong magnetic fields on and near the surface of the Sun cause polarization
in light emitted by atoms in the solar atmosphere. Observations of the Sun
with a polarimeter can reveal the strength and structure of magnetic fields
emanating from beneath the Sun’s surface and permeating the various levels
Polarimeter
SOLAR-B POLARIMETER
of the solar atmosphere. Such observations are one of Solar B’s primary
goals.
What is a Polarimeter?
A polarimeter measures the brightness of light polarized in a particular
direction. If the light source is unpolarized (with as many photons polarized
in one direction as any other), then the polarimeter will measure the same
brightness of light for every polarization direction.
If the light is polarized—if there is a direction in which a majority of the
photons are polarized—then the polarimeter will measure the greatest
brightness in that direction, and lesser brightness in all other directions.
What is the Optical Phenomenon That a Polarimeter

Employs?
A polarizing filter is a transparent piece of material (plastic or glass usually)
that contains many long, electrically conductive molecule chains, all lined
up in about the same direction. If photon passes through the filter with its
electric field perpendicular to the direction that the long chain molecules are
aligned, it will usually pass through the transparent material unperturbed.
However, if the wave’s plane of polarization is parallel to the chains, the
oscillating electric field will interact with electrons in the chains, causing
them to move up and down the chains in a weak, alternating electrical
current. The current creates its own electric field, and the interaction
between that field and the photon’s electric field cause the photon to be
absorbed, and it will not pass out of the filter.
Polarimeter
Heroically engineer
a spacecraft
that will enable
Ice and Eggs
to travel safely in space

California.
SOLAR-B SHOEBOX SATELLITE
Shoebox Satellite
Nuts and Bolts
Build from a shoebox, aluminum foil, paper, rubber bands, glue, tape, and
other common materials a structure that will:
1. Protect a cube of ice from melting under a hot lamp or direct sunlight.
2. Protect an egg from fracture when dropped from ten feet.
3. Cost as little as possible to launch into space.
Key Concepts
The environment of space is extremely hostile, to people and to
machines.
Engineering and building astronomical instruments (telescopes, for
example) that are to be launched by rocket and operate in space requires
special designs and special materials.
The building and testing of models of space-bound telescopes can help us
figure out the best way to design and build the real thing, before we send
it to space or even before we build them.
Materials Needed
Per Class:
A sensitive scale balance
Warm sunshine (or a heat lamp if warm sunshine is unavailable)
Per Working Group:
A shoebox, or other small box
Any of the following common materials: aluminum foil, colored paper,
tape (duct, transparent, masking), glue, rubber bands, scissors, knife,
bubble-wrap, cloth, cups, (Styrofoam, paper), toilet paper tubes, paper
clips.
Any other common household/classroom materials that the teacher
approves for use
Zip-Lock bag
Shoebox Satellite
An egg
An ice cube
Shoebox Satellite
Introduction
Description
Space satellite engineers are miracle-makers of a sort. Their task is to
design and build machines that can survive the rigorous forces of launch and
operate in the hostile environment of outer space without the possibility of
being repaired or maintained by humans in any way.
The forces and vibrations of being launched on a rocket are the main reasons
that the satellites must be structurally strong. The delicate instruments being
transported into space must not be damaged during launch!
Once in space, the spacecraft must protect its delicate instruments from,
among other things, solar radiation in the form of light and high-speed
particles ejected by the Sun. Any heat absorbed or produced by the
spacecraft must be controlled and disposed of to prevent overheating.
You will design and build a shoebox satellite. Given a shoebox and an
assortment of materials found commonly around the home or classroom, you
will work individually or with partners in your class to construct a
contraption that will: (1) Keep a cube of ice from melting for as long as
possible when your shoebox satellite is placed in full sunlight, and (2)
Protect an egg from being broken when your shoebox satellite is dropped
from a height of ten feet over a hard surface.
A third property that your shoebox satellite will compete for is weight.
Space flight is very expensive, so you want your shoebox satellite to be as
light as possible.
Be creative! Good luck.
Solar-B Connection
During Solar-B’s launch into space, if a single
bolt comes loose or a fragile mirror cracks, the
entire Solar-B mission—millions and millions
of dollars and years of time—could fail. Once it
has been launched, there is no realistic way to
repair even a minor problem.
This is why engineers and scientists must spend years carefully designing,
building, and testing the spacecraft and all of its systems. Before Solar-B is
launched into space, it will be put through tests of temperature, radiation,
and vibration that a human being would quickly fail.
Shoebox Satellite
Much of the testing of materials and components will first be done on test
models—models so much like the real thing that they could be used as the
real thing, if need be.
In the end, the actual spacecraft to be launched will be assembled and put
through final testing to make sure no bolts or wires or mirrors or circuit
boards come loose during launch.
The role of the engineer is vital in this type of project, as with so many
others. An astronaut or astronomer may become famous by flying a
spacecraft or making great cosmic discoveries with a satellite observatory—
but they would be unable to achieve these things without the machines that
spacecraft engineers create.
Shoebox Satellite
Design and Build

Overview
You are about to design and build a unique device: a structure that provides
both thermal and kinetic protection, and which is as light as possible. Think
about, and discuss with your partner or group, good design procedures that
you will employ. When you are finished building the device, it will undergo
three tests.
You may want to discuss and/or sketch some of your ideas, prior to
building(e.g. come up with a plan/plans). Remember, if you are working
with a partner or group, everyone’s ideas, input, and assistance are
important!
1. A paper cup containing a cube of ice will be loaded into your shoebox
satellite’s payload compartment and the box will be placed in full
sunlight. Before heating, the cup and ice together will be weighed and
the weight recorded. After heating, when a certain amount of ice has
melted to water, any remaining ice will be removed and the cup and
water will be weighed together. Comparing the before and after
weights will give an indication of how much of the ice melted during
the period of heating.
2. An egg will be placed in your payload compartment and your shoebox
will be dropped from a height of ten feet over a hard surface, such as
concrete. If the egg survives uncracked after your box strikes the
ground, the shoebox passes the kinetic design contest.
3. Third, the weight test. The whole shoebox satellite (without egg or
ice) will be weighed and the amount of money it would take to launch
it into space will be calculated from this weight.
Requirements
Here are the rules. Beyond these, just about anything else goes, at your
teacher’s discretion. Your teacher, however, has the power to say what else
may or may not be done.
You may use any materials found commonly around the home or
classroom (your teacher will decide if a particular thing can be used).
You must use a shoebox, or something similar, as the main structure.
Shoebox Satellite
Other than changing the payload (ice and cup, egg), you may not alter
your shoebox satellite between tests (other than opening and closing the
box and the payload compartment to change the payload—whatever you
use to hold the box closed for a test must not damage or destroy the box
during opening and closing).
Your shoebox satellite must have a payload compartment—a holder or
container of some sort in which the ice and cup (for the thermal test) and
the egg (for the kinetic test) will be placed.
Helpful Science Hints

Whether you are working alone or in a group, you may want to think about
how you are going to build your satellite to accomplish all of its tasks before
you start. Following are a few hints and suggestions that may help.
When the Heat is On
To prevent the ice in the payload from melting in the sunlight, you must
prevent heat from the Sun from entering the payload compartment. Since
you are not using high-technology materials or active cooling methods (like
air conditioning) to accomplish your task, the best you can really hope for is
to slow down the buildup of heat in the payload.
The basic ways that heat travels are by radiation, conduction, and
convection.
Radiation: Heat energy travels by radiation in the form of light.
The sunlight shining on your box carries energy, which strikes the box and
heats up the materials in it. Once the box is heated up, it begins to emit its
own light in the form of infrared radiation. The infrared light can shine from
one place to another, heating up parts of the box that are not otherwise in
direct sunlight.
Conduction: Heat energy travels by conduction in the form of moving
atoms striking other nearby atoms and causing them to move as well.
Atoms and molecules in an object move around and vibrate faster and faster
when heated—in fact, heat is that motion; heat is energy carried in the
motion of matter. In solid objects, heat energy will spread out as the moving
atoms strike neighboring atoms and set them, too, into motion.
Convection: Heat travels by convection when a region of fluid is heated and
moves upward.
Shoebox Satellite
When a fluid (gas or liquid) is heated, it expands. As a result, it becomes

less dense than the unheated fluid around it. As a result of this, the warmer,
lighter fluid rises upward, carrying the heat it contains with it.
Fight the Impulse
When it comes to cars crashing into trees, falling objects striking the ground,
or spacecraft being hurled into space on rockets, there is one thing common
to them all: they are all experiencing changes in velocity, or speed, some
more rapidly than others.
The word impulse is used to describe an impact. It is the force of the impact
multiplied by the amount of time the force is exerted. This product, impulse
= force x time, is the total change of momentum experienced by the object.
In general, there are two types of impulse: 1) Hard and fast, and 2) Soft and
slow. Hard and fast is usually not the way you would like to experience a
change in velocity. That’s when you run into a brick wall at full speed,
going from fast to stopped in a fraction of a second. The great amount of
force you experience over the short amount of time can result in broken
bones, or worse.
Soft and slow is the way to go. If the wall you run into is padded, like a
mattress, you will enjoy the result more than if you run into bricks. You are
not stopped the instant you hit the mattress, but rather the mattress bends and
gives, pushing back against you with a weaker force, but over a longer
period of time.
To give your egg payload the best chance for survival, you need to think
about how to give it the soft and slow type of impulse. Anything you can do
to increase the amount of time that the egg is being slowed down by the
force of impact with the ground will increase its chances of not being
cracked.
Shoebox Satellite
Test
Thermal Test
With Sunlight: If sunlight is used for the thermal test, the teacher should
locate a good place outside, in the sunlight, where the shoebox satellites can
be placed. The surface must be large enough to accommodate all of the
shoeboxes, and must be a uniform surface like cement, a lawn, blacktop, etc.
This is to make the contest fair, since some surfaces may be hotter than
others (for example, asphalt as opposed to grass) and affect the test.
With a Hot Lamp: The best way to perform the thermal test is to place the
shoebox satellites in full sunlight. However, if the weather is cool or cold
even in full sunlight, the ice may not melt quickly enough, or at all. In cold
weather, the teacher may decide to use a bright, hot lamp instead of sunlight.
In this case, each shoebox satellite should be placed under the lamp at the
same distance (preferably very close to give it the greatest amount of heat
exposure).
All students must be ready to go at the same time.
The teacher will distribute a cube of ice to each student. This will be
done as quickly as possible.
As soon as you have the cube of ice, place it in a Zip-Lock bag, seal the
bag, and weigh the two (bag and ice) together. Record this weight in the
table below.
On your mark, get set, GO! Install the bagged ice into your shoebox
satellite’s payload compartment.
The whole class will move their shoebox satellites outside into the
sunlight and place them in the pre-chosen test area.
The shoebox satellites must be left alone, in full sunlight, for 20 full
minutes. (Note: the teacher may change this amount of time depending
on prevailing weather conditions.)
At the end of the test period, all of the shoebox satellites should be
quickly and carefully brought out of the sunlight and opened.
Immediately pour out any liquid water from the Zip-Lock bag, leaving
any unmelted ice in the bag.
Weigh the bag and ice together and record the number in the table below.
Shoebox Satellite
Do the calculation below. If you are doing the activity as a competition

among students, the shoebox satellite with the smallest difference in
weight (the smallest amount of melted ice) wins the thermal test! (If you
choose to have the students compete against a predetermined set of
criteria, then all students who meet the criteria “win.”)
Weight Before: Weight After: Difference
Bag + Ice Bag + Ice (Weight Before) – (Weight After)
Kinetic Test
The exact way to conduct the kinetic test will be decided upon by the
teacher. Dropping each shoebox satellite from a certain height over a hard
surface is one method. Creating a giant slingshot from a bucket and long
pieces of rubber surgical tubing and launching the shoeboxes upward is
another. Whatever method is used, the same method should be used for
testing all shoebox satellites.
Each participant will be given one egg.
Place the egg in the payload compartment.
By the method chosen, drop or launch the shoebox satellite and allow it
to land on the ground.
Open each shoebox satellite.
Using the Damage Assessment Table below, the teacher or students will
rate the amount of damage suffered by each egg and circle the result on
the table.
Damage Assessment Table
No damage to egg 0
At least 1 crack in shell 1
At least 1 crack with small leakage of egg white 2
Shell broken with much egg white lost 3
Shell broken, major egg white loss, yoke broken 4
Cost Test
Designing, building, and testing a satellite is only the ground work. A
satellite must actually be launched into space to begin its life of useful
Shoebox Satellite
operation. But placing objects into space comes at a price—a big one. To
see how much it would cost for NASA’s space shuttle to place your shoebox
satellite into orbit, do the following.
Weigh your shoebox satellite, obtaining a result in grams.
Multiply the grams by 100 and record the result below.
The result is how many dollars it would cost to carry your shoebox
satellite into a low Earth orbit.
Weight (grams) Weight x $100/gram Cost to Launch
Note: The value of $100 per gram is a rough figure, but not unrealistic.
Space exploration is not cheap.
Shoebox Satellite
Lessons Learned/Questions /New Ideas

After the thermal and kinetic testing is done, each group can discuss/write
about their satellite, what they expected to happen, what in fact happened,
lessons learned, questions, what worked (and why they think so) and what
did not work (and why they think so), and what change or changes they
would make to their design and why. Then, each group can make a brief
presentation to the whole class, and students can ask one another
questions/make comments. This discussion could center around some of
the following questions.
Thermal
1. How many thermal phenomena (for example, convection, conduction,
reflection, absorption) did the shoebox satellite exploit?
2. In how many ways did the design of the shoebox satellite prevent heat
from reaching the payload?
3. In how many ways did the design of the shoebox satellite remove heat
from the area of the payload?
Kinetic
1. Was the shoebox satellite designed in any way to slow down the
falling speed of the box?
2. Was the payload isolated from the rest of the shoebox so that the
payload may have experienced a softer and slower impulse than the
box?
3. What else in the shoebox satellite’s design may have softened the
impulse of landing?
Cost
1. List any reasons you see for the shoebox satellite being as light as it
is.
2. What do you think could have been done to make the shoebox satellite
even lighter?
Design and Materials Tips

Tips For Applying Thermal Science to Your Design:
Aluminum foil is a great reflector of sunlight. Any sunlight that you can
reflect away from your box is energy that cannot cause the box to heat
Shoebox Satellite
up. A white object is bright and white because it reflects much of the
light striking it. Aluminum foil is even better. As you think about your
design plan, where and how might you use aluminum foil?
Metal (including aluminum foil) is a conductor of heat: any heat
contacting the metal will spread quickly through it. If you want to
prevent heat from conducting through a piece of your shoebox satellite,
use material that is a good insulator—that is, something that does not
conduct heat well. Styrofoam is an excellent thermal insulator. Paper or
cardboard is okay, but not quite as good. As you think about your design
plan, where and how might you use styrofoam?
Vent holes cut in the right places can aid convection of air. If the air
inside your shoebox does start to heat up, you can remove some of that
heat by allowing the air to convect out of and away from the box. Vent
holes cut in the top of your box will allow air to rise up and out, while
vent holes cut near the bottom will allow cooler outside air to be sucked
into the box to take the place of the air leaving through the top. Note: If
you cut holes in the top, you may want to think about what will happen if
sunlight is allowed to shine through those holes directly into the box—
and perhaps think of a way to prevent this….
Tips For Applying Kinetic Science to Your Design:
Rubber bands make a good suspension system. Rubber bands stretch,
and can be used as shock absorbers. If you can isolate your payload
compartment from the rest of the shoebox, and figure out how best to
give the payload adequate “stretching room,” all the better. As you
consider your design plan, what are some ways you might use
rubberbands?
Duct tape is a strong and durable bonding device. For holding things
together, duct tape is king. It also sticks to itself well. In what ways
might duct tape be useful in your design?
Bubble-wrap and other forms of plastic sheeting are also useful for
protecting objects from damage. (Also, bubble-wrap is a pretty good
thermal insulator.) Where and how might you use bubble wrap?
If you think the egg in your payload compartment will fare better if the
shoebox satellite lands on a particular side, then you might think about
how to force the shoebox to land on the desired side. Tail fins, such as
you may have seen on a rocket, work pretty well for this, if you use them
right.
Shoebox Satellite
SOLAR-B STANDARDS ALIGNMENT
Solar-B:
Touch the Sun
Alignment with
Education Standards
Standards Alignment
Education Standards Alignment Matrix
Education Standards
spectroscope
pinhole cam
shoebox sat
colorgraphs
polarimeter
sunspotter
Alignment Matrix
general
sundial
National Science Education Standards
Grades 5 - 8
1. Science As Inquiry
Content Standard A: As a result of activities in grades 5
– 8, all students should develop abilities necessary to do
scientific inquiry and understandings about scientific
inquiry.
Abilities Necessary To Do Scientific Inquiry:
Identify questions that can be answered through

scientific investigations.
Design and conduct a scientific investigation.
Use appropriate tools and techniques to gather,

analyze, and interpret data.
Develop descriptions, explanations, predictions,
and models using evidence.
Think critically and logically to make the
relationships between evidence and
explanations.
2. Physical Science
Content Standard B: As a result of their activities in
grades 5 – 8, all students should develop an
understanding of:
Motions and Forces
* The motion of an object can be described by

its position, direction of motion, and speed.
That motion can be measured and represented
on a graph.
Transfer of Energy
* Light interacts with matter by transmission

(including refraction), absorption, or scattering
Standards Alignment
Education Standards
spectroscope
pinhole cam
shoebox sat
colorgraphs
polarimeter
sunspotter
Alignment Matrix
general
sundial
(including reflection).
* The sun is a major source of energy for
changes on the earth’s surface. The sun loses
energy by emitting light. A tiny fraction of that
light reaches the earth, transferring energy from
the sun to the earth. The sun’s energy arrives as
light with a range of wavelengths, consisting of
visible light, infrared, and ultraviolet radiation.
3. Earth and Space Science

Content Standard D: As a result of their activities in
grades 5 – 8, all students should develop an
understanding of :
a. structure of the earth system
b. earth’s history
c. earth in the solar system
c. Earth in the Solar System:
* The sun is the major source of energy for

phenomena on the earth’s surface, such as
growth of plants, winds, ocean currents, and the
water cycle. Seasons result from variations in
the amount of the sun’s energy hitting the
surface, due to the tilt of the earth’s rotation on
its axis and the length of the day.
4. Science and Technology

Content Standard E: As a result of activities in grades 5
– 8, all students should develop:
a. abilities of technological design
b. understandings about science and technology
a. Abilities of Technological Design:
* identify appropriate problems for

technological design
* design a solution or product
* implement a proposed design
* evaluate completed technological designs or

products
* communicate the process of technological
design
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b. Understandings About Science and Technology:
* Scientific inquiry and technological design

have similarities and differences. Scientists
propose explanations for questions about the
natural world, and engineers propose solutions
relating to human problems, needs, and
aspirations. Technological solutions are
temporary; technologies exist within nature and
so they cannot contravene physical or biological
principles; technological solutions have side
effects; and technologies cost, carry risks, and
provide benefits.
* Science and technology are reciprocal.
Science helps drive technology, as it addresses
questions that demand more sophisticated
instruments and provides principles for better
instrumentation and technique. Technology is
essential to science, because it provides
instruments and techniques that enable
observations of objects and phenomena that are
otherwise unobservable due to factors such as
quantity, distance, location, size, and speed.
Technology also provides tools for
investigations, inquiry, and analysis.
* Perfectly designed solutions do not exist. All
technological solutions have tradeoffs, such as
safety, cost, efficiency, and appearance.
Engineers often build in back-up systems to
provide safety. Risk is part of living in a highly
technological world. Reducing risk often
results in new technology.
* Technological designs have constraints.
Some constraints are unavoidable, for example,
properties of materials, or effects of weather
and friction; other constrains limit choices in
the design, for example, environmental
protection, human safety, and aesthetics.
5. History and Nature of Science

Content Standard G: As a result of activities in grades 5
– 8, all students should develop understanding of:
a. science as a human endeavor
b. nature of science
c. history of science
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b. Nature of Science:
* Scientists formulate and test their

explanations of nature using observation,
experiments, and theoretical and mathematical
models. Although all scientific ideas are
tentative and subject to change and
improvement in principle, for most major ideas
in science, there is much experimental and
observational confirmation. Those ideas are not
likely to change greatly in the future. Scientists
do and have changed their ideas about nature
when they encounter new experimental
evidence that does not match their existing
explanations.
National Science Education Standards

Grades 9 - 12
1. Science as Inquiry
Content Standard A: As a result of activities in grades 9
a. abilities necessary to do scientific inquiry
b. understandings about scientific inquiry
a. Abilities necessary to do Scientific Inquiry
* Identify questions and concepts that guide

scientific investigations
* Design and conduct scientific investigations
* Use technology and mathematics to improve

investigations and communications
* Formulate and revise scientific explanations
and models using logic and evidence
b. Understandings About Scientific Inquiry
* Scientists conduct investigations for a wide

variety of reasons. For example, they may wish
to discover new aspects of the natural world,
explain recently observed phenomena, or test
the conclusions of prior investigations or the
predictions of current theories.
* Scientists rely on technology to enhance the
gathering and manipulation of data. New
techniques and tools provide new evidence to
Standards Alignment
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guide inquiry and new methods to gather data,
thereby contributing to the advance of science.
The accuracy and precision of the data, and
therefore the quality of the exploration, depends
on the technology used
* Mathematics is essential in scientific inquiry.
Mathematical tools and models guide and
improve the posing of questions, gathering data,
constructing explanations and communicating
results
4. Science and Technology

Content Standard E: As a result of activities in grades 9
a. Abilities of technological design
b. * Understandings about science and
technology
a. Abilities of Technological Design
* Identify a problem or design an opportunity
* Propose designs and choose between

alternative solutions
* Implement a proposed solution
* Evaluate the solution and its consequences
* Communicate the problem, process, and

solution
b. Understandings About Science and Technology
* Many scientific investigations require the

contributions of individuals from different
disciplines, including engineering.
* Science often advances with the introduction
of new technologies. Solving technological
problems often results in new scientific
knowledge. New technologies often extend the
current levels of scientific understandings and
introduce new areas of research.
* Creativity, imagination, and a good
knowledge base are all required in the work of
science and engineering.
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* Science and technology are pursued for
different purposes. Scientific inquiry is driven
by the desire to understand the natural world,
and technological design is driven by the need
to meet human needs and solve human
problems. Technology, by its nature, has a
more direct effect on society than science
because its purpose is to solve human problems,
help humans adapt, and fulfill human
aspirations. Technological solutions may create
new problems. Science by its nature, answers
questions that may or may not directly
influence humans. Sometimes scientific
advances challenge people’s beliefs and
practical explanations concerning various
aspects of the world.
5. History and Nature of Science

Content Standard G: As a result of activities in grades 9
– 12, all students should develop understanding of:
a. Science as a human endeavor
b. Nature of scientific knowledge
c. Historical perspectives
b. Nature of Scientific Knowledge
* Science distinguishes itself from other ways

of knowing and from other bodies of
knowledge through the use of empirical
standards, logical arguments, and skepticism, as
scientists strive for the best possible
explanations about the natural world.
* Scientific explanations must meet certain
criteria. First and foremost, they must be
consistent with experimental and observational
evidence about nature, and must make accurate
predictions, when appropriate, about systems
being studied. They should also be logical,
respect the rules of evidence, be open to
criticism, report methods and procedures, and
make knowledge public.
* Because all scientific ideas depend on
experimental and observational confirmation,
all scientific knowledge is, in principle, subject
to change as new evidence becomes available.
Standards Alignment
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National Mathematics Education
Standards Grades 6 – 8
Instructional Programs in Grades 6 –
8 should enable all students to do the
following:
Number and Operations Standard
Understand numbers, ways of representing
numbers, relationships among numbers, and
number systems work flexibly with fractions,
decimals, and percents to solve problems
Understand meanings of operations and how
they relate to one another understand the
meaning and effects of arithmetic operations
with fractions, decimals, and integers
Compute fluently and make reasonable
estimates select appropriate methods and tools
for computing with fractions and decimals from
among mental computation, estimation,
calculators or computers, and paper and pencil,
depending on the situation, and apply the
selected methods
Algebra Standard
Understand patterns, relations, and functions
represent, analyze, and generalize a variety of
patterns with tables, graphs, words, and, when
possible, symbolic rules
Represent and analyze mathematical situations
and structures using algebraic symbols, develop
an initial conceptual understanding of different
uses of variables
Use mathematical models to represent and
understand quantitative relationships, model
and solve contextualized problems using
various representations, such as graphs, tables,
and equations
Analyze change in various contexts, use graphs

to analyze the nature of changes in quantities in
linear relationships
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Measurement Standard
Understand measurable attributes of objects and
the units, systems, and processes of
measurement
Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and
formulas to determine measurements
Data Analysis Standard

Formulate questions that can be addressed with
data and collect, organize, and display relevant
data to answer them
Select and use appropriate statistical methods to
analyze data
Develop and evaluate inferences and
predictions that are based on data
Problem Solving Standard

Build new mathematical knowledge through
problem solving
Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in
other contexts
Monitor and reflect on the process of
mathematical problem solving
Communication Standard for Grades 6–8
Organize and consolidate their mathematical
thinking through communication
Analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking
and strategies of others
Use the language of mathematics to express
mathematical ideas precisely
Connections Standard
Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts
outside of mathematics
Representations Standard
Create and use representations to organize,
record, and communicate mathematical ideas
Use representations to model and interpret
physical, social, and mathematical phenomena
Select, apply, and translate among
mathematical representations to solve problems
National Mathematics Education
Standards For Grades 9 – 12
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Instructional programs in Grades 9 – 12
should enable all students to:
Numbers and Operations Standard
Understand numbers, ways of representing
numbers, relationships among numbers, and
number systems
Algebra and Functions Standard
Understand patterns, relations, and functions
Use mathematical models to represent and

understand quantitative relationships
Analyze change in various contexts
Geometry Standard
Use trigonometric relationships to determine
lengths and angle measures
Specify locations and describe spatial
relationships using coordinate geometry and
other representational systems
Measurement Standard
Understand measurable attributes of objects and
the units, systems, and processes of
measurement
Apply appropriate techniques, tools, and
formulas to determine measurements
Data Analysis and Probability Standard
Formulate questions that can be addressed with
data and collect, organize, and display relevant
data to answer them
Select and use appropriate statistical methods to
analyze data
Develop and evaluate inferences and
predictions that are based on data
Problem Solving Standard
Solve problems that arise in mathematics and in
other contexts
Apply and adapt a variety of appropriate
strategies to solve problems
Mathematical Communication Standard
Communicate their mathematical thinking
coherently and clearly to peers, teachers, and
others
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Analyze and evaluate the mathematical thinking
and strategies of others
Mathematical Connections Standard
Recognize and apply mathematics in contexts
outside of mathematics
Representation Standard
Create and use representations to organize,
record, and communicate mathematical ideas
Select, apply, and translate among
mathematical representations to solve problems
Use representations to model and interpret
physical, social, and mathematical phenomena
California Science Standards
Alignment
Grade 8—Focus on Physical Science
Motion
1. The velocity of an object is the rate of
change of its position. As a basis for
understanding this concept, students
know:
c. how to solve problems
involving distance, time, and
average speed.
f. how to interpret graphs of
position versus time for motion in
a single direction
Earth in the Solar System (Earth
Science)
4. The structure and composition of the
universe can be learned from the study
of stars and galaxies, and their
evolution. As a basis for understanding
this concept, students know:
b. the sun is one of many stars in
Milk W l St
Standards Alignment
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our own Milky Way galaxy. Stars
may differ in size, temperature,
and color.
Investigation and Experimentation
9. Scientific progress is made by asking
meaningful questions and conducting
careful investigations. As a basis for
understanding this concept, and to
address the content in the other three
strands, students should develop their
own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
a. plan and conduct a scientific
investigation to test a hypothesis.
b. evaluate the accuracy and
reproducibility of data.
c. distinguish between variable
and controlled parameters in a
test.
e. construct appropriate graphs
from data and develop
quantitative statements about the
relationships between variables.
f. apply simple mathematical
relationships to determine one
quantity given the other two.
g. distinguish between linear and
nonlinear relationships on a graph
of data.
California Science Standards
Alignment
Standards Alignment
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Grades 9 - 12
Waves
4.Waves have characteristic properties
that do not depend on the type of wave.
As a basis for understanding this
concept, students know:
a. waves carry energy from one
place to another
e. radio waves, light, and x-rays
are different wavelength bands in
the spectrum of electromagnetic
waves whose speed in a vacuum
is approximately 3 x 10 m/s
(186,000 miles/second).
f. how to identify the
characteristic properties of waves:
interference (beats), diffraction,
refraction, Doppler effect, and
polarization.
Electric and Magnetic Phenomena
Electric and magnetic phenomena are
related and have many practical
applications. As a basis for
understanding this concept, students
know:
f. magnetic materials and electric
currents (moving electric charges)
are sources of magnetic fields and
are subject to forces arising from
the magnetic fields of other
sources.
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CHEMISTRY
Atomic and Molecular Structure
1. The periodic table displays the
elements in increasing atomic number
and shows how periodicity of the
physical and chemical properties of the
elements relates to atomic structure. As
a basis for understanding these concepts,
students know:
j* spectral lines are a result of
transitions of electrons between
energy levels. Their frequency is
related to the energy spacing
between levels using Planck’s
relationship (E=hv)
EARTH SCIENCES
Earth’s Place in the Universe
1. Astronomy and planetary
exploration reveal the solar
system’s structure, scale, and
change over time.
2. Earth-based and space-based
astronomy reveal the structure,
scale, and changes in stars,
galaxies, and the universe over
time. As a basis for
understanding this concept,
students know:
d. that stars differ in their life
cycles and that visual, radio, and
x-ray telescopes may be used to
collect data that reveal those
Standards Alignment
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differences.
INVESTIGATION AND
EXPERIMENTATION
1. Scientific progress is made by asking
meaningful questions and conducting
careful investigations. As a basis for
understanding this concept and
addressing the content in the other four
strands, students should develop their
own questions and perform
investigations. Students will:
b. Identify and communicate
sources of unavoidable
experimental error.
c. Identify possible reasons for
inconsistent results, such as
sources of error or uncontrolled
conditions.
d. Formulate explanations by
using logic and evidence.
g. Recognize the usefulness and
limitations of models and theories
as scientific representations of
reality.
i. Analyze the locations,
sequences, or time intervals that
are characteristic of natural
phenomena (e.g., relative ages of
rocks, locations of planets over
time, and succession of species in
an ecosystem).
j. Recognize the issues of
t ti ti l i bilit d th d
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statistical variability and the need
for controlled tests.
l. Analyze situations and solve
problems that require combining
and applying concepts from more
than one area of science.
n. Know that when an
observation does not agree with
an accepted scientific theory, the
observation is sometimes
mistaken or fraudulent and that
the theory is sometimes wrong.
Standards Alignment

2 A Introducion Fisica de Particulas

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See the Sun

Solar-B Education and Public Outreach (EPO)

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 2

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 3

ACTIVITY 4: ANALYZE THE DATA............................................................ 133

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 4

Touch the Sun

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 5

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 6

Build a simple sundial.

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 7

An aperture is an opening through which light enters an optical device.

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 8

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 9

What Students Will Learn

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 10

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 11

Ease of Making Measurements

Design for Abuse!

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 12

Classroom Considerations: Some Toe-holds

Reflecting on Your Learning

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 13

Solar Learning Sites

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 14

Stanford Solar Center:

The Sun’s Physical Characteristics

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 15

Solar-B Education and Public Outreach (EPO)

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 17

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 18

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 19

Before You Observe

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 20

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 21

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 22

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 23

Sunspot Count: ________________

Sunspot Label Description (large, dark, small, light, etc.)

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 24

Analyze the Data

Oct 26, 0:00 UT Oct 28, 0:00 UT Combined Images

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 25

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 26

where md is the measured distance the sunspot moved.

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 27

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 28

Lessons Learned/Questions/New Ideas

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 29

Information for Teachers

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 30

Example of Calculating Sunspot Speed and Solar

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 31

Calculate the actual diameter of the sunspot’s circle of latitude:

Alternate Method: Determining Latitude of Sunspot

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 32

Pinhole Projector: A Low-Cost Alternative to

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 33

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 34

Solar-B Education and Public Outreach (EPO)

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 36

A magnetic compass and a bubble level (optional)

Solar-B Touch the Sun, Chabot Space & Science Center 37